


Misery Loves Company

by kuki



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Demons, F/M, Ghosts, Helpful Deaton, M/M, Magic!Stiles, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Magical Tattoos, Minor Lydia Martin/Jackson Whittemore, Minor Scott McCall/Kira Yukimura, Necromancy, Nogitsune Trauma, Past Allison Argent/Isaac Lahey - Freeform, Past Allison Argent/Scott McCall, Prophecy, References to Supernatural (TV), Soulmates, Stiles Has Nightmares, Stilinski Cousin, magical familiars, post 3b
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-23
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2018-02-05 00:50:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 40
Words: 59,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1799434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuki/pseuds/kuki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After years of actively avoiding him, Stiles' cousin (and her annoying cat) moves in with him and Sheriff. He has to try to hide that fact that everyone he knows is a werewolf or something, and she seems to be hiding something from him too. Scott  also needs help with the latest supernatural threat - a coven of powerful witches looking for someone in town. His main goal though is to keep Scott from thinking his cousin is the person they're looking for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello my dears! So, I decided to restart this with a little more of a dark tone than the original version. Let me know what you think. I prefer it so far, but I'm also biased as the mother of this little brain child. Enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A pair of children are born and a life is lost.

It was April 8th and the time that the nurse was marking down on the birth certificate was 9:18 pm. Deputy Stilinski was holding his new born son and looking down at his barely conscious wife. The baby hadn’t stopped crying since it was born, and his father was worried that he would exhaust himself. He was practicing pronouncing his son’s ridiculous, but sentimental, first name when a nurse came in with a frown.

“Your sister… she’s not going to make it…” The nurse said and his eyes went wide.

“Give him here… go…” Claudia said from the bed, holding her hands out weakly. Her husband placed the boy gently on her chest and she wrapped her arms around him.

When he walked into the room next door, his sister had blood dribbling down her chin from her mouth. He glanced at the crib next to the bed and frowned. His niece, he was sure it was a girl without being told, was crying exactly the same as his own son.

“How’s Claudia?” A girl barely 17 glanced at him with glowing red eyes that were spilling tears.

“She’s tired.” He walked over and offered his sister the saddest excuse for a smile he had ever given. “Hey Cynthia.”

His sister coughed up some blood, before replying. “Put them together, for now…”

He nodded and clenched his jaw tightly, his eyes gazing at the birth certificate someone had left on the side table that had the same time of birth listed as the one sitting in Claudia’s room. “They can’t stay together.”

“I’ll take care of that. I need a new emissary anyway.” The girl’s voice sounded so small to the deputy, nothing like the reflected authority it usually held that she learned from the local Alpha, Talia Hale.

“Thank you, Vanessa.” Cynthia’s face moved to look at the alpha and gave her a bloodied smile.

Reaching down, he traced his fingertips over the lines on his sister’s arm that used to be vibrantly black against her pale skin, that used to glow when she did magic. “They’re fading.”

“I have one more spell in me.” Her lips tried a smile but were assaulted by more blood and a cough the shook her entire body. She took another glance up at the man. “You’re going to forget, because he _can’t_ know… and this is the best way.”

He nodded and took her hand, waiting. Her tattoo glowed one last time and when it stopped, it was completely gone, along with some very crucial memories for Stilinski and his wife.

His family heritage of magic, and ancient prophecies now etching away at his own son, were erased from his mind. The existence of werewolves and every other non-human was wiped clean in his head, just myths now, no longer real threats.

“We should take Misery out of here.” The young alpha picked up the small child and pulled him away from his sister’s body as the nurses rushed and checked for a pulse, before announcing she was dead.

Through his tears he snorted. “And I thought what my son got saddled with was bad.” The girl smiled at him and led him back to his wife.

Claudia was sleeping, despite the boy still crying at the top of his lungs. The addition of Misery’s screams didn’t seem to bother her either. Stilinski picked up his son and put him in the crib. Vanessa set the girl next to him.

They both were instantly quite, staring at each other with identical honey-brown eyes. Their hands pressed together, though not intertwining their chubby digits.

Despite his tears, he smiled down at his niece and son. The werewolf, which he no longer remembered was a werewolf, frowned next to him, her eyes flashing red slightly with worry.

April 8th, 9:32 pm. That’s what Cynthia Stilinski’s death certificate stated.


	2. Spare Room

Stiles fell back onto Scott’s bed, with something half way between a sigh and a groan. The alpha glanced at him and rolled his eyes before staring back at the notebook open on his desk. “What are you being so melodramatic over?”

“Dad wants me to clean out the spare room. I haven’t been in there in fucking years, there’s like fifty-shades of rusty junk and unpleasant memories in there Scotty.” The words rushed out like that could possibly be the worst thing to happen to him in his entire life. Scott snorted and looked away from his econ homework to his best friend.

“Want some help?”

“Dude, I’m going to totally cry and you’re definitely going to get tetanus.” The human looked at the werewolf and Scott had to keep himself from flinching or worse. Stiles still looked wrecked, like he still hadn’t been sleeping. The scent of guilt and exhaustion came off of him in waves.

“Any reason why he wants you to clean it out?”

“He said he wanted to tell me in person, so it can’t be anything good.” Again with making it sound like there weren’t worse things out there than cleaning spare rooms and things that needed to be said in person, things like kanima’s, alpha packs, being a human sacrifice, or nogistunes. “I hate everything.”

“Listen, let me finish this then we can go over to your house and do this. The sooner it gets done, the less I have to hear you complain about it.” Stiles snorted in response and rolled over on his best friend’s bed.

Scott carefully found all the boxes that looked even remotely related to Claudia and dealt with them by sitting them in the Sheriff’s room.

“Dude. Why the hell?” The alpha set down the box of Stiles’ baby clothes and walked over to him.

He read the scrawl on the box, that was obviously his own mother’s, out loud. “Melissa’s Macramé.”

“Why the hell is a box of your mom’s stuff in my spare room.” It was more of an accusation than a question. Scott only shrugged and texted his mom to ask her if she wanted it.

An hour later, most of the boxes were in the driveway to be thrown out, and some were either in the Sheriff’s room or the living room to be sorted through later. Scott and Stiles went out for Chinese and dropped some off at the hospital to a very grateful Mrs. McCall.

The patrol car was in the driveway when he pulled in and Stiles sighed. Scott put a hand on his shoulder. “Want me to stay?”

“Nah man, go home, I’m fine.” Stiles got out of the Jeep. Scott followed his lead and grabbed his bike, waving at his friend as he was putting on his helmet.

“Thanks.” His dad calls from the living room where he’s staring down at the few boxes next to the coffee table. “For this…”

Stiles nodded and gave his dad a hard stare. “Why’d we need to clean out the spare room?”

The Sheriff sighed and glanced at him and immediately dropped his gaze. “Your cousin’s coming to stay with us for a while.”

He spluttered for a few seconds, trying to remember what cousin he could be talking about besides the fact that he only had one. “My cousin who you haven’t a spoken a word to in, like, a fucking decade?” Stiles couldn’t help but feel his shoulders tighten in anger as he snapped at his father.

“Yeah. That cousin. I still keep tabs on her, Vanessa and I talk frequently.” The Sheriff finally looked at his son. “I guess her and I are both going to have to get over not talking to each other, huh?”

Huffing slightly, he crossed his arms. “How long is she staying?”

“Long enough that Vanessa and I decided to enroll her in school.”

“Last time I talked to Misery she was getting her GED and starting college online.” He said it in a bored tone, but they both knew that was almost a year ago when he last talked to her on the phone.

Nodding, the Sheriff took a few steps over to Stiles. “We both thought the social interaction would be good for her.”

“Alright, fine. When is she getting here?”

“Tuesday, I have to work, so would you mind going to pick her up at the airport?”

As he rolled his eyes, he nodded. “Yeah, fine, whatever. That spare room’s going to need an overhaul and new furniture.” Before his dad could say anything else on the subject, he raced up to his room and shut the door. His head was racing and he ran his fingers through his hair.

It’d been almost two years since he had last seen her, not too long before their sweet sixteen. They were always close, when they were little. She was around all the time, spent entire summers at the house, but now, there was almost nothing.

He pulled out his phone and thumbed through his contacts, feeling almost surprised that he even had her number at this point. With a strange feeling in his chest that he wasn’t sure whether it was with excitement or dread, he sent her a text: **So ur movin in?**

When he came back from a very long shower, he found a reply. **Cant wait to see u**

He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Stiles missed her, and while he didn’t think about her often, when he did it was an aching pain. It hurt more than when he thought about… about his mom, because Misery was still alive and she wasn’t around because she chose to be, not because she was taken away.

Stiles let out a breath and settled back into his bed, preparing for another restless and likely sleepless night. His eyes focused on his ceiling for a while before his eyelids dropped heavily, sending him almost instantly into a fitful dream.

His nightmares usually consisted of the Nogistune taunting, making him question whether he was really out of the mess. Some were reliving all the damage he had done. Lately, his dreams had been haunted by Allison.

That night, however, his nightmare was more unsettling than fear inspiring. His mind went through memories of his cousin, focusing on some of the things he never quite had an explanation for.

The dream zoomed into Vanessa’s face when a six year old Misery feel and started crying, her eyes flashed red as she rushed to pick up the girl. His mother’s funeral, when he distinctly remembers being close enough to talk to her and then her on the other side of the room and not speaking a single word to him. Dark lines that sometimes marked her arm when he saw after that, and how she hadn’t so much as let them touch accidently since the first time he noticed the tattoos. It settled onto the full memory of the last time he saw her.

_She stood at the bottom of the stairs after his dad had left her in without a single word exchanged between them. He smiled at seeing her and ran down the stairs. After years of not touching, he didn’t even try for a hug no matter how much he wanted to._

_“Hey Stiles.” Misery gave him a weak smile, looking around the house. She looked tired and paler than usual. Her blonde was matted slightly and up in a loose ponytail. There was a crack in one of the lenses of her glances._

_“You okay?” His smile faded as he looked at her looking like a wild animal thrown into a cage._

_Her attention snapped to him and she sighed. “Yeah, sorry… I can’t stay long, I just wanted to see you.”_

_“You don’t seem okay.” Both their eyes moved to the door as Vanessa came in and stared at them. She was in as bad of shape as her ward._

_“We have a flight in an hour.” She smiled a little more sincerely than Misery had as she held out a small wrapped gift out to him. “Happy Birthday Stiles.”_

_“Uh, thanks.” He took it carefully, like the DVD case shaped package might explode._

_Nodding curtly, she walked into the kitchen, starting a hushed conversation with the Sheriff. Stiles stopped looking at the gift and looked back at Misery. “You guys drove all the way out to California for an hour?”_

_“We were in the area, sort of.” She shrugged, not looking at him._

_“Where, in the area?”_

_“Oregon?”_

_Stiles found himself laughing at her almost smile, reaching out for the railing. “Come on, let’s go up to my room.”_

_She didn’t answer him, but following him up. Sitting on her bed, she was looking around again. “A couple more posters than last time.”_

_“Yeah, I guess so.” He sat in his desk chair, across from her. “Why did you want to see me?”_

_“Because Vanessa’s making me do something that might very well get me eaten by wolves, and I thought I’d visit my favorite cousin before I died.” She smirked slightly like she was trying to keep from laughing._

_He rolled his eyes, assuming she was joking. “I’m your only cousin.”_

_“Fair point, I suppose.” Then she sighed and slumped over. “I’m sorry.”_

_“No, it’s fine, I miss you sometimes.”_

_“I didn’t mean for dropping by unexpected today, if I was going to apologize for that, it’d be to your dad.”_

_He couldn’t help but scoff. “If you and him were talking to each other.”_

_“Yes. If Uncle and I spoke.”_

_They were quiet for a while, the silence broken by Vanessa and the Sheriff yelling downstairs. The two met each other’s eyes and knew the fight was probably about one of them. Misery pursed her lips, like she was attempting to hear what they were saying._

_“Smart money is they’re fighting about how much she moves you around.” He said, trying to say it with a humorous tone and failing._

_Her eyes flashed to him, then closed. “Yeah, well, I’m seeing the world, though usually the darkest side of it.”_

_“Dad brought it up the other night, when I asked if you were coming by for our birthday.” Stiles said, trying not to read too much into what his cousin had said._

_She snorted. “I’m sure that’s not the only gripe he brings up about Vanessa’s parenting.”_

_He rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, well… I don’t see how he can complain when we don’t see you often.”_

_“Guilt trip me why don’t you.” Misery stood and paced to the window, looking out. When she was younger she would always comment that it was a perfect window to sneak into. “I wish I could see you more often,_ hell, _that I could live here with you and Uncle, but I_ can’t. _”_

_Stiles blinked at her. “Then why don’t you?”_

_“Because we can’t… we need to stay separate.” She glanced back at him. “I love you Stiles, I’m trying to protect you.”_

_“You have a funny way of showing it.” He grumbled, inching out of the chair. “Why are you even here, Misery.”_

_Misery let out a dark laugh, shaking her head. “Sometimes, I’m not even sure. I’m not sure of anything anymore.”_

_“What do you have to protect me from?” It came out very close to a growl._

_“Me, Stiles. I need you to protect you from me.” She pushed away from the window heading out the door. “This was a mistake. I’m sorry Stiles.”_

_He followed her downstairs but stopped at the door, watching her climb into the passenger side of the car parked in front of the house. Vanessa walked out almost immediately after her, pausing to attempt to ruffle his then buzzcut hair and wink at him._

His eyes opened to the sound of his alarm clock with his heart beating heavily, but not rapidly. It was the first time in months he didn’t wake up in pure panic, covered in sweat and making some kind of inhuman noise. Stiles blinked his eyes and rubbed his hands over his face. He was more rested than he had been in weeks, but he was definitely more uneasy as he got up and got ready for school.


	3. Misery

Scott obviously noticed a difference, if the way he was staring at him was anything to go by, but he hadn’t said anything. “So, did your dad tell you why you needed to clean out that room?”

“Yeah. My cousin’s staying with us, indefinitely apparently.” He shrugged, glancing at the people in the hall.

“I didn’t know you even had any cousins.”

“Sometimes I forget too. It’s been a while since I’ve seen her.” Stiles grimaced, spotting Lydia and planning to chase after her soon. “I mean, when I do see her, she’s a total ice queen.”

“Dude, how are you going to keep her from finding out about all of this?” The alpha motioned around the school. “I mean, apparently were not that subtle if Danny’s known the entire time…”

“Fucking… how am I going to…” He pushed his head back against the lockers, remembering the part of the dream when Vanessa’s eyes flashed red. “This is only going to end in disaster.”

“They should rename the town Disaster.”

Chuckling, Stiles finally took that as his queue to chase after the banshee. She glanced back, not stopping once he caught up to her. “What do you want Stiles? I have a bio test in two minutes.”

“My cousin’s moving in with us, and Dad and I would probably ruin any chance of it working out if we picked out stuff for her room.”

Lydia considered her for a second then nodded. “Meet me at the mall with money at five o’clock after school.”

Thanking her profusely and calling her a goddess repeatedly, he walked off to his own class.

After school he found a certain former alpha leaning against the Jeep, and Stiles grimaced. How many times had that thing been broken because of Derek _Eyebrows_ Hale? He walked over and smirked at the wolf. “What can I do you for Derek? Could’ve just as easily climbed in my window and waited for me in my room.”

Derek _Stubble_ Hale snorted and smiled, he fucking smiled. Stiles immediately assumed he was dreaming. “Scott said you hadn’t been sleeping well. Wanted to check on you myself.”

Stiles rolled his eyes and walked around him. He was definitely going to give Scott _Worst-Best-Friend_ McCall about talking about his problems with other people. “I slept great last night.”

“I can hear you thinking about your nightmare, it’s even worse than you talking.”

“It wasn’t a nightmare, which was surprising in the worst way.” When he got into the Jeep, he should’ve been shocked when Derek _Suddenly-I’m-a-Guru_ Hale got into the passenger seat. “I almost prefer Allison yelling at me that I’m the reason she’s dead, or the Nogistune telling me that it’s not over.”

The wolf glanced at him, giving him a pitying smile. That’s all Stiles needed, Derek _Toned-Abs_ Hale feeling sorry for him. “What was your dream about then? You seem pretty worked up about it?”

“Wh-…” He paused and put his hand over his chest. His heart was pounding, and only slightly because of Derek _Pretty-Sure-I’m-in-Love-with-You_ Hale. “Yesterday was sort of a trying one, if you know what I mean.”

“Depends. Did you almost get eaten by a kanima yesterday?” There was that smile again, sincere in a way it almost never used to be.

“No, family stuff.” He started the Jeep, spotting Scott coming out of the school with an arm around Kira. If there was something he didn’t want, it was Scott seeing him with Derek, not when his best friend kept asking if he liked him. “Made me think about some weird things that happened growing up.”

“Weird stuff like how?” Derek was still staring at him as he drove. It was nice for Derek to be in the Jeep, not dying or threatening him.

“Uh, I don’t know. Maybe I was making stuff up in my head as I was dreaming… I’ve been through some serious shit.”

“Yes you have. But if you think something’s weird, it probably is.”

“Thanks. That helps.” He sighed and moved one hand off the steering wheel if he wanted to gesture with it. “Do you know of anything that can have reappearing tattoos?”

“Not off hand, why?”

He shrugged and then went silent. “Do you want me to drop you off at your loft?”

“I can walk.” Despite the answer, Stiles turned onto the road that leads to the loft.

“Are you okay, Stiles? If you ever need to talk, I have some experience with feeling responsible for a lot of deaths.” Derek’s eyes that were just moments previously filled with mirth and curiosity turned to their usual darkness.

“Your hands didn’t set your house on fire Derek. It wasn’t your voice that commanded the fire. It wasn’t you directly. I killed people. I killed people who didn’t deserve to die with my own hands. I killed Allison… Aiden…” He was crying now and Derek grabbed his shoulder.

“Pull over Stiles.”

He did as the werewolf asked, shrugging out from his grip.

“You didn’t kill anyone Stiles.” Derek _Arms-Like-That-Should-be-Outlawed_ Hale reached around him and touched the scar behind his ear. “You’re not a killer.”

He snorted, pushing the arm away but keeping on hand on his muscular and veiny forearm. “What? Takes one to know one?”

Derek let his eyes glow blue for a second before smiling at him softly. “Yes.”

Stiles nodded and turned away from his intense gaze. “It’s still my fault they’re dead. There’s nothing I can do to fix it for Scott, Isaac, or even Ethan.”

“It doesn’t need to be fixed, they need time to heal, especially Isaac and Ethan.” He growled slightly and grabbed Stiles’ chin to make him face him. “And Scott doesn’t blame you. No one blames you. We could’ve lost you too, you almost died too.”

“We?” Stiles wasn’t sure when, but he stopped crying and was glad of it. He promised himself after his dad got taken by Jennifer that he wasn’t going to cry in front of Derek _Emotionless_ Hale again.

“The pack. Your _dad._ ” He shrugged, moving his gaze away from Stiles. “We couldn’t even save _you_ without your help Stiles.”

Stiles snorted. “Yeah. You’re all completely useless without me.” Feeling a little more in control of his emotions, he pulled back onto the road. The rest of the ride to the loft was quiet, neither of them talking but neither of them finding anything to say, so it wasn’t uncomfortable.

When Derek got out he sighed. “I’d invite you up, but Peter’s here…”

“Good choice. I’ll see you around Derek.”

“Take care of yourself.” He glanced at the window and the wolf was grinning at him. “Or I’ll rip your throat out. With my teeth.”

Stiles rolled his eyes and pulled the Jeep away from him, heading back to his house. He met Lydia at the mall with a very small amount of money, which she sneered at but took from his hand. She bought a couple of things, after asking what was already in the room.

When he stopped at his house again, his dad was painting, with the furniture gathered in the middle. The Sheriff turned to his son and the bags in his hands. “Which of these colors do you think she’ll like more?”

Stiles stared at the swatches and shrugged. “The purple, it goes with the bed sheets Lydia picked out at least.”

Nodding, he turned back to the paint with a huff. “I think she’ll just be happy with the effort.”

After getting the room mostly ready, they sat down for take out. The Sheriff reached for Stiles’ bacon burger and received a glare.

“You have a delicious veggie burger right there.” He pointed at the sandwich, grabbing for his own to take a bite. “Gowta eat heafy da.”

Snorting, the Sheriff picked up his own and started to bite in. “Tomorrow, you’re still picking up Misery right?”

“Yeah. When’s the flight come in?”

“Noon, from London. You’re going to have to miss school.”

“She was in London? Her and Vanessa sure do get around.”

“Flights aren’t exactly… she might be late…”

“Yeah, I know. I’ll just take my phone and do something.” He put a handful of curly fries into his mouth. “It’ll be fine.”

After dinner, he texted his friends, imploring the importance of taking notes for him. His nightmares returned to terrifying him, making him wake drenched in sweat and trying to keep his scream from waking his dad. He didn’t remember the dream in detail but knew it ended with Misery standing over Scott’s body, the rest of the pack in pieces behind her.

The dream didn’t make it much easier for him as he waited at the airport for her. He sprawled out on a row of chairs, tapping away at the phone. A game of Piano Tiles got interrupted by a text from Big Bad: **Hows the airport**

**Scott told u**

**Lydia**

**Bored out of my mind**

**How late is it**

Stiles checked the time and groaned. **Hour and a half** He also knew Derek was laughing his ass off from his loft.

**Howd u sleep last nit**

**Nightmare**

**Wanna talk about it**

**Dont remember**

**Any of it**

**My cousin standing over the dead pack**

**… is she ok**

**I dont even no**

“Flight 11B in from London arriving now.” A sweet voice said over the speakers. Show time. Stiles stood up, tucking his phone in his pocket and looking where she’d be coming out, worrying if he’d even recognize her after how much time had passed.

He watched as people poured out around him. His eyes darted to faces, trying to place it. One person he recognized, but would deal with later, was Jackson. The former Kanima glanced at him and made a great effort to avoid him, walking towards his parents instead.

She was the last once to come out, a suitcase trailing behind her, a backpack on her back, and an animal carrier held tightly. Her eyes fell on him and a smile spread across her face. She started sprinting toward him, dropping the suitcase and the carrier and wrapped her arms around him tightly.

“Stiles.”

“Well, this was unexpected.” He replied, wrapping his arms around his cousin. “It’s good to see you Misery. You look good.”

She really did look good, at least in comparison to the last time he had seen her. Her glasses weren’t broken. Her hair was styled around her face, making her look slightly older. There were a few scars that looked like scratches just under her eyes low enough that they wouldn’t do any damage. The tattoo-that-sometimes-wasn’t was dark black lines on her arm that disappeared under her sleeve. Misery’s entire stance was much more relaxed than the last dozen times he had seen her.

“You let your hair grow out. I like it.” She smiled and bent down to pick up the carrier, turning it so she could coo into it. “Sorry Cecil. I was just so excited to see him.”

There was a hiss followed by a huff from the carrier. Stiles grabbed her suitcase, trying to peek inside.

“My cat, Cecil.” She turned it so he could see inside to a very angry looking cat. It was a white ball of fur with a soft pink nose and striking blue eyes.

“He’s very angry at you.”

“He’ll get over it, or he can find someone else to clean his litterbox.” The cat huffed again like he understood her, which made her laugh. “So, I guess your dad had to work?”

“Uh, yeah. I took off school to come get you, so you’re welcome.” He smirked at her, punching her shoulder very lightly.

Misery’s eyes widened and her face hardened, but it softened again almost instantly like she had forgotten that they were touching now. “I’m still not sold on the idea of having to go to high school. I have my GED and half a bachelor’s.”

“Dad and Vanessa think your social skills need some work.”

She scoffed, and looked at him over the frames of her glasses. “My social skills are fine. I could sell a Ferrari dealer a rusty bug.”

Snorting, he put an arm around her shoulders, forcing her to start heading out. “That’s not social skills. That’s manipulation, which is very handy…”

In reply, she rolled her eyes and allowed him to lead her out to the parking lot. He bit his lip, staring at the lot.

“Do _not_ tell me you forgot where you parked.” He gave her a half assed grin that slowly turned to a grimace under her stern gaze. Then she quickly switched to a fond smile. “I see it, if you’re driving the old Jeep.”

Stiles watched her as she walked toward the Jeep and huffed. It was like before, her giving him an amusingly hard time, joking with him. He missed this Misery, when he missed her.


	4. Little Old for This

“So, what do you want for dinner? Dad’s working late and he gave me some cash for take out.”

She gave him a disgusted look. “I’m cooking. There is no way in hell that I’m eating anything that isn’t homemade while I have access to a kitchen.”

He glanced at her. “You cook?”

“I _love_ cooking. The last time I actually some place with a proper kitchen though? Probably when we were thirteen or something.”

“I want to hear about it sometime.” He cursed himself as soon as he let it slip from his mouth.

“Hear about what?”

“Your _life_. I feel like I know nothing about you.”

Misery sighed and let her head fall back against the head rest. “We’re not doing this now Stiles.”

“Doing what? I just want to know about your life, Misery. I haven’t seen you in two years! What were you doing in London?”

“Nothing. A fat lot of nothing.” She gritted out. “Please Stiles. Just let me have this peace for a few days, then I’ll tell you _any_ thing you want to know. Just please.”

He let out a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah. Okay, but I’m holding you to that.”

“Wasn’t doubting it for a second.” Then her smile slipped back onto her face. “Come on, let’s drop off my crap and get something I can cook with.” He opened his mouth to ensure her that there was totally food at the house, and she raised an eyebrow at him. “You and your dad live off take out. It’d be a miracle that your milk is still good.”

He snorted and conceded with a nod. “Yeah, fine, okay.”

After that they settled into silence, it was a heavy quietness that held secrets, but it wasn’t uncomfortable and Stiles found himself not trying to break it with long winded rants or sarcasm. Once inside, she let the cat out of its carrier. It glanced back at her before darting under the sofa.

“Now, until I get you a litter box, you’re not to go to the bathroom, alright?”

It mewed from under the couch and she chuckled. “In the spare room? Or did your dad put a cot on the back porch.”

Stiles rolled his eyes. “He doesn’t _hate_ you Misery. You stopped speaking to him first, remember?”

“It was mutual.” Then she headed up the stairs, stepping into the room. “I like it, good colors.”

“My friend Lydia helped me out, so Dad didn’t put like a monster truck on the wall.”

She smirked back at him, a thousand thoughts flashing behind her eyes. “Monster trucks would’ve done fine, but your friend Lydia must be a physic because this is exactly what my room is like at Vanessa’s house… Is she your girlfriend?”

He rubbed his neck nervously. “Nah, I wish sometimes, she’s gorgeous and a total genius, but I’m totally over her.”

“Hmm, sure you are.” She hoisted the bags onto the bed and flicked them. “I will unpack these things later.”

Stiles nodded and headed back downstairs, after quickly grabbing a handful of cash from on top of his dresser. Misery glanced at the money in his hand and rummaged in her pocket, pulling out a credit card. “I’ve got it. Vanessa put like 10 grand on this, call it child support.”

He stared at it for a long time, then moved his gaze to her face, which was just itching to give him a sarcastic retort to a question of where Vanessa got that much money. Instead he shoved the cash in his pocket and headed downstairs. They made a pit stop on the way to the Jeep at the key bowl. “House keys.”

Misery mocked swooned as she took them. “Stiles, you shouldn’t have. What a grand gesture.”

Hitting her on the shoulder lightly, he grinned at her. She rolled her eyes and hit him back. “Let’s just move. I’m jet lagged and I want food and sleep.”

At the store, they bump into Mrs. McCall, who at first mistakenly takes Misery as Stiles’ girlfriend. After fixing the issue, they part ways cordially. A few aisles later, Stiles hears a familiar voice at the other end as they round the corner.

“Peter!” Derek sounds as annoyed as Stiles as ever heard him. “Will you stop sticking things in my basket?”

The older wolf whined. “All your damn pups get to keep their favorite snacks at your house, why can’t I?”

“Because I don’t _hate_ them.”

“I’m you-…” Both of the wolf’s eyes fix on the cousins at the end of the hall.

“I see you got your cousin, Stiles.” Derek smiled at them, glancing at Misery.

Her face goes red and she elbows Stiles in the stomach. “That better be your _boyfriend._ ”

He choked at the force but glared at her. “I’m not seeing anyone.”

“Then I’m going to climb him like a _fucking_ tree.”

Derek snorted and held out his hand. “Derek Hale.”

Misery’s eyes go from dilated to wide and sad as she takes the hand. “Misery.”

Stiles glances at Peter, who is staring at his cousin like he’s seen a ghost and he’s not going to read too much into that.

“That’s a strange name.”

She beamed at Derek, her eyes looking towards Stiles. “You should hear Stiles’ full name.”

“Don’t you dare. I will drop your ass off in the middle of the woods.”

Her lips turned up into a smirk at him before turning back to Derek. “It was nice meeting you, thank you for putting up with my cousin for me.” Then she had her hand on Stiles’ arm, dragging him down the aisle, only pausing to throw a few things in the basket he’s carrying.

Once in the car, she’s staring at him. “So, you’re friends with Derek Hale? Like _Hale_ Hale, Derek Hale?”

“I don’t know if you’d call us friend. I’d be upset if he died… but _friend_?”

She snorted, folding her arms and looking away. “He was giving you eyes.”

“He was n-… Was he? Are you sure?” When she looked back him, he groaned and hit her, pretty hard. “Fuck you, getting my hopes up like that.”

Once back at the house, she made a pot of spaghetti, promising to make homemade sauce when she wasn’t so tired. He told her anything that was heated up in his own kitchen was close enough to homemade for him.

“When do you think your dad’s going to get home?” She asked, just as she slurps another forkful into her mouth.

“Probably not until really late. Did you want to talk to him?”

Misery sighed, swallowing and setting down her fork. “You know? I spent most of the plane ride trying to figure out what I would say to him… mostly out loud, much to the annoyance of my neighbor… and I still don’t know. Any advice?”

“I’d start with a ‘hey’ and follow up with an ‘I missed you’ and a hug?” He shrugged. “Worked pretty well for me.”

She barked a laughed and shook her head. “I spoke to you, Stiles. I just didn’t touch you.”

“Why is that?”

“I don’t remember, at this point… but I did decide that it was a stupid rule, no matter the original reason.”

He nodded and rolled his eyes. “Or is this something I should’ve waited to ask.”

Her face turned into a dark smirk before taking a few more bites and getting up. “I’m going to head to bed.”

“I’ll be up for a while so…” It’s not a lie, he has all the makeup work Lydia and Scott have been texting to him all day to do. When he finishes, he goes to his room to start on it at least. Misery says goodnight to him, her hair soaking wet from a shower, with her cat under her tattooed arm. He gets a good look at her whole tattoo then while she’s wearing a tank top, it goes all the way to her collar bone and is made up of almost nonsensical shapes. She watches him as his eyes trace over it, and only when his face meets hers again does she leave the room to let him finish.

About an hour after Stiles fell asleep at his desk, a scream rang throughout the entire house. It was terrifying, and he only realized it was him making the noise when his eyes focused on Misery in front of him, looking as terrified as he felt.

“Stiles?” She said it carefully, her hands digging into his upper arms, hard enough to leave a bruise for a day or two.

“Sorry… I-I…”

“I thought someone was _murdering_ you.” Her body was slowly releasing tension, but her eyes were still the same, dark with fear. “That must’ve been some nightmare.”

He nodded dumbly, willing his heartbeat to slow down. “Sorry.”

“Stop apologizing.” Then she was stepping back from him. “Get changed and get in bed.”

Snorting, he rolled his eyes. Sleep never happened after a nightmare, but her face made him get up and grab a pair of sweatpants and ratty old t-shirt from his dresser. She left, and was back in just as he was lying down. “What ar-…” His question was cut off by her crawling in next to him.

“This’ll help. You need to see a therapist, and get some drugs coz.” Misery rolled around before getting comfortable.

“Aren’t we a little old to share a bed?”

“Making up for lost years…” Then she reached over and switched off his bedside lamp.

He wakes up to his alarm going off and the feeling of a hand leaving his. His eyes adjust to awake-ness and chuckles at the sight of Misery hiding her head under the pillow.

“Turn that infernal thing off.” Stiles reaches for his phone and thumbs off the alarm before crawling over her, earning himself a faceplant into the carpet.

“I have to get ready for school…”

She groaned and hid further into her pillow. “I’m not going to look.”

After changing and gathering his stuff as quietly as he can, he heads downstairs and to see his dad sitting in the kitchen, eating the leftovers from dinner. “Uh, hey Dad.”

The Sheriff looks up at him, with a slightly hard gaze. “You and Misery were…”

“Just sharing a bed Dad.” He replied immediately. “When I woke her up screaming from a nightmare, she came in… it helped.”

Nodding, he put his focus back on a book that he was looking through. “How is she?”

“Good, fine… She brought her cat.”

“I noticed.” He nodded to where the cat was curled up on the counter next to the sink. “When you get home from school, do me a favor and take it into Deaton.”

“I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to see me with an actual vet problem.” He gave his dad a cheeky grin, and received an exasperated eye blink. “When is she starting school?”

“The paperwork’s going in today, so take her with you tomorrow. Try to keep her out of trouble.” The Sheriff paused then, and sighed. “Get to school Stiles.”

“Me keep her out of trouble? My best friend’s a werewolf and the town is a danger magnet. Trouble’s going to happen.”  The sheriff glared at him, and Stiles put his hands up in defeat. Then he was leaving, grabbing a pack of poptarts and the Jeep keys. “You should talk to her, Dad.”


	5. The Cat Though

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't updated in a while, but you knew that. Someone said they needed a new chapter immediately so it motivated me to update, even if not immediately. Also, this chapter has little to do with the cat. Enjoy.

Scott and Lydia are both by his locker when he gets to school. “Uh oh. What is it now? Vampires? Zombies? Lay it on me guys.”

Lydia rolled her eyes. “We just wanted to see how things are going with your cousin.”

“My mom got to meet her before I did dude.” Scott whined.

He chuckled, both nervously and thankfully. “It’s fine. She’s… she’s a little weird. And you’ll get to meet her later. Dad wants Deaton to check out her cat.”

“Your dad thinks her cat’s a shapeshifter?”

“No, Dad thinks it has rabies or something.” He shrugged. “She’s also starting here tomorrow, so everyone’ll get to meet her.”

The rest of the day goes relatively normal, with the exception of Finstock asking him if it was true that there really were two of him.

When he gets home from school, Misery looked over at him from where she was laying on the couch with her cat laying on her chest. “Hey Stiles.”

He huffed and dropped his bookbag at the bottom on the stairs.

“Rough day at school?”

Snorting, he walked over and sat where she was moving her feet. “Understatement. Did Dad tell you we have to take that…” He pointed at where Cecil was staring at him. “… to the vet’s?”

“Wrote me a note that he stuck on the fridge.” She sighed.

“Did you talk to him at all?”

“I came down just as he was leaving… I told him to be safe… and he said thanks…”

“It’s a start.” He patted her foot and smiled at her. “We have a slip in appointment in about an hour. My best friend works at the only vet in town.”

“Your friend Scott?” She pulled her foot away and picked up the cat so she could sit up. He nodded. “Cool, but Cecil’s not a big fan the vet’s, so he might put up quite a little fight.”

The cat meowed at her and wriggled out of her grip to hide under the couch.

Stiles smiled when she sighed and looked dejectedly at the floor. “What did you do all day?”

“Laid around, rearranged your kitchen, unpacked about half my stuff.” Misery shrugged and got up. “The note from Uncle said I was starting school tomorrow too.”

“Uh, yeah.” He rubbed his face. “Fair warning though, my friends are pretty weird.”

“My only friend is my cat. I’m sure your friends are fine.” She snorted as she squatted down to pull Cecil out from under the sofa. “I’ll be upstairs unpacking some more until it’s time to take him to the v-e-t.”

Stiles nodded, following her up and getting the homework he had to do later out of his bookbag and promptly ignoring it. He knocked on her door later before entering. There were a few more things spread throughout the room. A few framed pictures of him and her, her and Vanessa, and one of her mother were on the dresser.

“Making yourself at home?” He asked.

She looked up at him, shutting her suitcase. “Yeah.” A smile spread across her face. “This was always the closest thing I had to a home.”

Stiles glanced around the room again. “So, we should probably get going.”

Misery stood up and picked the cat that trying desperately to sneak under the bed. “Nope, we’re going to be vet mister. No hiding from me.”

He snorted and headed down the stairs. She followed after putting the cat back into the carrier. They both climb into the Jeep and she stares out the window.

“The town has really changed since I was last here. It feels different.”

“What way?”

“Every way. It’s a good way though.” Misery smiled at him. “There’s such a better atmosphere… it’s much lighter…”

Snorting, he shook his head with a glance at her. “Lighter? I don’t think that’s the word I’d pick.”

“Well, no, because you’re a darker person than last time we saw each other, but the town, it’s healed a lot, even if there are new wounds too.”

“What are you? Some kind of guru?”

Misery let her head fall back as she shrugged. “Maybe.”

Scott was talking to a customer when the two cousins entered the animal clinic. He gave them an acknowledging smile and walked over when he finished. “Hey, you must be Stiles’ cousin. Misery right?”

“And you’re Scott McCall.” She held out her free hand and Scott took it, shaking it gently.

“Stiles said you wanted your cat looked?” The wolf said as he dropped her hand.

Letting out a bark of laughter, she lifted the cat carrier to the counter. “Uncle wants him looked at. I think he thinks he has rabies or something.”

“I think it’s just a weird cat.” Stiles said, glancing over at the door to the back as Isaac came out. The blond male walked over and stared at Misery.

Cecil hissed as Scott opened the door. Misery rolled her eyes and turned the cage to pull out the cat. “Scott’s a friend. Stop hissing at him.” She looked up at the two boys behind the counter. “He doesn’t like new people.”

“He liked me.” Stiles crossed his arms, looking down at Cecil at it stared at him.

“You’re family, he knows that if he’s mean to you he doesn’t get fed!” Beaming at him, she looked at Isaac. “Hello.”

“Uh… hi…” Isaac looked away embarrassedly.

“You’re a friend of Stiles’ too?”

“Nah, I’m Scott’s friend, but Stiles apparently is part of the package.” He grinned slightly, though still not meeting her gaze.

She laughed. “How unfortunate.”

Scott looked back at his beta, his eyebrows raise slightly. “Is Deaton ready for Cecil?”

Isaac stared at him, processing his alpha’s words then nodded. “Yeah. I just finished helping him cleaning up.”

Lifting the gate, Scott motioned for Misery and Stiles to follow Isaac back. Deaton was putting on a pair of rubber gloves, facing away from them. When he turned around, he stopped, his eyes fixed on Misery.

“It’s been a while Misery.”

“Stow it Alan.” Misery replied through a clenched jaw, glaring at the vet.

Stiles looked between his cousin and the emissary, one of his eyebrows raised. “You know each other?”

Deaton nodded with a smile, his eyes on the tattoo on the girl’s arm. “Yes. Vanessa and I are old acquaintances, so when they were in town, she would bring Misery to visit. What is your relationship with her, Stiles?”

“She’s my cousin.” Deaton’s smile fell at the words, his eyes now looking over Stiles anxiously, expectantly.

Misery cleared her throat, holding out the cat carrier. “I just want my cat to get a check up, you’re still a vet, right?”

Deaton’s face tightened again, taking the carrier. “What’s the patient’s name?”

When the pair returned home, Misery let Cecil out of the carrier and headed up the stairs.

“What was that all about?” Stiles said from the base of the stairs. Misery stopped and her grip on the railing visibly tightened.

“Nothing. Deaton’s just an old friend of Vanessa’s.”

“Why did he look mortified that I was your cousin?”

“I can’t Stiles.”

“Misery, what’s going on? I need to know.”

She turned towards him and shook her head. “I told you, give me a few days and I’ll tell you everything. Give me some time to pretend I’m normal, for us to have what we used to have again… Please.”

Stiles didn’t reply, but he dropped his hands and turned away. Smiling, Misery nodded and thanked him before hiding in her room the rest of the night. Once Stiles settled into bed, he heard his door open and felt his bed sink down.

“I’m sorry about earlier.”

She smacked him and pulled the covers away from him. “Less apologizing more sleeping.”

“School tomorrow.”

“ _More sleeping_.”

Rolling his eyes, Stiles rolled to face away from her but left his hand back to grab ahold of hers.


	6. Something Wicked

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look! Chapter! Wow, could that title be more cliché... anyway, just wanted to let you know I decided I was including Malia as a minor character (Her and Stiles will have a similar relationship dynamic, but it'll be totally platonic, not even a flirtatious batting of the eyes.) since I like what she could be, so she's in this chapter briefly. Things happen and yep. Enjoy.

Scott had just locked up the clinic, Deaton apparently had something supernatural he wanted to show him. Isaac had just left to do something with Argent. He was just about to head back into the back when he heard the lock click back open. Turning, he was letting one of his hands sprout claws as he watched the door open and three figures cloaked in black enter the waiting room.

The two figures flanking the center one took down their hoods. The tall, sharp female smiled. “Are you Scott McCall?”

The young wolf didn’t respond, only stared at them.

“We were informed that the emissary of the Beacon Hills’ pack would be here, but you look like the alpha.” The short plump male said with frown.

“Who are you?” He let his eyes flash red as he took a step towards them, his eyes on the figure in the middle with its hood still up.

Opening her mouth to speak, the female’s smile grew wider. The central figure put up his hand as he dropped his hood. “I am the Warlock Orzo, leader of a very powerful coven.” The man had strong but pleasant features, though a rather large nose. His eyes were very dark and small on his face. His hair was grey, not matching his young face, and pulled back into a gentlemanly ponytail.

“What do you want?”

“We’re looking for someone. A dangerous young witch, without the confines of a coven. She’s been alluding us for a very long time, and we think that she believes your Nematon would hide her.”

Scott’s thoughts flashed instantly to Misery, but he tried to steer himself away from that train of thought. “Why are you telling me?”

“This is your territory, young Alpha. We just wanted your permission, as fellow supernaturals.”

“What are you going to do when you find this witch?”

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with.” Orzo smiled sweetly.

“I-I need to confer with my emissary.” Scott bolted into the back and stared at Deaton. The vet stared at him, silently telling him to speak. “There’s a bunch of witches in the waiting room.”

“How did they introduce themselves?”

“The one said his name was Orzo. They’re looking for someone.”

Deaton nodded and glanced towards the door. “Orzo is dangerous. He collects powerful magic wielders and adds them to his coven. It is of upmost importance that you don’t make him an enemy.”

“What should I tell him?”

“As long as no one gets hurt, there won’t be a problem.”

Scott nodded and went back out to the waiting room. “As long as you don’t threaten my pack or the town, you’re free to look for this person.”

Orzo smiled darkly and put his hood back up. “Thank you, Alpha McCall.”

Once the three witches were gone, Scott immediately called Stiles, it went immediately to voicemail. He swore and turned to see Deaton standing behind him.

“Mr. Stilinski not pick up?”

“Nah, he must be hanging out with Misery.” Scott shrugged. “I’ll just tell him tomorrow.”

Deaton nodded. “Go home Scott.”

When Stiles woke up the next morning, he was alone, with the exception of the white cat staring into his eyes the second he woke up. He scratched its head and got up to check the clock, which graciously told him that he had about five minutes to get ready for school.

He threw on one of the shirts off what he was sure was his clean pile, jeans, and a button down from his closet. Once he was dressed, putting on his sneakers while walking, he walked down the hall and knocked on Misery’s door. It opened, revealing the room to be empty. A meow came from near the stairs and Stiles looked over at Cecil who nodded towards the stairs and started walking down. Stiles followed him to the kitchen, where Misery was standing by the sink and drying her hands. She looked up at him and huffed.

“Morning…” He said awkwardly, bending to put on his shoe properly.

“I made you an egg sandwich, to go.” She nodded at the paper plate on the table as she put her bookbag over her shoulders. Stiles sighed happily, picking it up and taking a huge bite.

“Thanks. You’re the best cousin ever.”

Misery snorted and picked up the keys to the Jeep. “Come on. I still have paperwork to do at the school.”

When they got to school, Scott’s waiting by Stiles’ locker, talking to Lydia and Isaac. The three of them look at him sternly when he approaches with Misery.

“Good morning?” Misery said questioningly.

Lydia looked at her and smiled. “Oh, so your Stiles’ cousin? Nice to meet you. I’m Lydia Martin.”

Misery smiled back. “You’re the one that helped Stiles and Uncle from completely ruining my room, thanks for that, it’s great.”

Nodding, the banshee glanced at Stiles. “You’re so very welcome. Have you seen the way he dresses? Imagine what he would’ve done to that poor room.”

He rolled his eyes in reply and put his hand on Misery’s shoulder. “I need to get her to the office so she fill out her paperwork or whatever, I’ll see you guys later.”

As Misery fills out her paperwork, Stiles leans on the desk in the office, staring at the clock. She tells him a dozen times that she’s fine and he can go before he asks for a pass from the secretary.

The two don’t see each other until lunch, when she comes up to the table behind Danny. He glares at Stiles, stepping aside. “Found something that belongs to you.” She waved at him and sat down across from him, next to Kira.

“Thanks Danny.”

Danny nodded, his eyes now locked onto the other cafeteria enterance, where Ethan, Lydia, and Malia were entering. Malia sat down instantly, pouting at Stiles and handing him her math homework. Lydia sat next to Misery and took a strand of her hair, scrutinizing it. Ethan gave Danny a peck on the cheek before scanning the table.

His eyes locked onto Misery as Scott was introducing Kira and Malia to her. Lydia was the one that noticed Ethan staring. “What? This is Stiles’ cousin, Misery.”

Misery turned to look at him and frowned, her eyes narrowing at him. The wolf nodded and cleared his throat, turning back at Danny.

“That’s Ethan, Danny’s boyfriend.” Misery looked at Stiles as he spoke, nodding slightly.

Ethan then promptly took Danny and disappeared out of the lunchroom.

Malia then growled, pushing her book towards Stiles. “This is due after lunch.” Stiles rolled his eyes and took her pencil.

Lydia got Misery attention back on her, talking about taking her shopping and ways she should do her hair and makeup, until Isaac came into the room and sitting down on the other side of Scott. Misery stared at him, nodding while the banshee continued talking to her.

Scott looked from Kira to Isaac. “Dude, why were you running?”

 “S-Sti-…” Isaac took a grabbed Scott’s unopened water bottled and downed half of it. “Stilinski and your dad are outside. Apparently someone got murdered in the woods behind the school.”

Stiles and Scott both stood instantly. Lydia rolled her eyes at them. “You’d think they’d close school like once when someone died on the grounds.”

Isaac snorted and looked at Misery, who still hadn’t taken her eyes off him since he came in, “If only we’d be so lucky.”

Misery smiled, turning her gaze to her cousin who was heading out the door with Scott. Kira turned to her and started talking, making her attention snap to the kitsune.

Scott and Stiles walked out to the front of the school where Agent McCall and Sheriff Stilinski were standing, staring at the body bag on the gurney and talking in hushed tone. The two turned to their sons, when Parrish, who was watching them, cleared his throat and nodded behind them.

The two teens waved at them as the two lawmen swore and approached them. “Stiles, what the hell are you two doing out here?”

“Who is it?” Scott asked, seriousness on his face.

“No one I recognize.” Stilinski replied, still glaring at his son. “Do you know something?”

McCall’s phone started ringing, he answered it, walking away out of hearing range.

“Three witches came into the clinic last night.”

Stiles blinked at Scott. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I called you. You didn’t answer.” Scott then turned back to the Sheriff. “They promised me they weren’t going to hurt any civilians…”

“What are they doing here?” The Sheriff glanced over where Agent McCall was still on the phone.

“They’re looking for someone, a witch they want in their coven.”

“Another witch? Did they say anything about them?”

“They’re young and female…”

All three of them stopped when Agent McCall came back over. “What are you two still doing here? Don’t you have class?”

“It’s lunch.” Stiles said with a small smirk, put grabbing Scott shoulder and taking him back inside anyway. Once inside, Scott pulls him into an empty class room.

“I think it could be Misery. I think they’re looking for her.”

“What? You think my cousin’s a witch?”

“I’m saying that she showed up at the same time as the witches, and it can’t be…”

“A coincidence…” Stiles sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Okay, fine. _Maybe_ she’s a witch, _and maybe_ they’re after her, but she’s probably not! I mean, she’s never really been into the occult or anything…”

“Still, we should keep an eye on her, just in case.”

Stiles nodded and left the room, heading back into the cafeteria. The group glanced up at him and Scott, before going back to their mass interview of Misery. She looked at Stiles desperately, but he just smiled.


	7. Just a Few More Days

Stiles ended up having his last class with his cousin. Finstock gave her a hard time during that class, going on a rant about their first names. After class, Stiles grabbed Misery and headed to the Jeep.

“What’s the rush?” She asked, buckling her seat belt.

“Uh, nothing, Just going over to Derek’s after I drop you off at the house.”

“Derek’s huh?” She smirked at him.

He rolled his eyes. “Scott and the others are going to be there too.”

“I’m not allowed to come? I thought you wanted me to hang out with your friends.”

“I do, just not right now…” His voice trailed off and he looked at her pleadingly.

“Alright, fine. I just don’t like being alone at the house.”

“Want me to drop you off at the station?”

She snorted and looked away. “And do what? Hang out with Uncle?”

Stiles shrugged noncommittally and kept driving. He dropped her off at the house, not even bothering to walk her in. Misery glanced back at him before slamming the house door. When he got to Derek’s, everyone else was already there, and he stood next to Scott but stared at Derek.

Scott nodded slightly then glanced around the room. “Alright, so I just thought everyone should know that there are some witches in town, looking for another witch.”

Ethan shifted uncomfortably next to Danny, who was grumbling about even being there. Derek sighed and glanced at Stiles.

“Witches?” Lydia asked, crossing her arm. “Like Jennifer Blake?”

“I don’t think so.” Scott replied.

“These witches get their power from someplace darker than she did.” Derek clarified.

“Someplace darker than _human sacrifice_?” Isaac snorted but the older wolf glared at him.

“Much darker.”

“Like hell darker?” Stiles was still watching Derek.

“Exactly.”

“We’re talking about Orzo, right?” Ethan walked over to where the three were standing.

“Yeah?” Scott looked at the former alpha questioningly. “How did you know?”

“Deucalion and Orzo fought several times, usually over the girl they’re looking for.”

“So you know who she is?” Stiles looked at him hopefully.

“I won’t tell you, and I won’t help them find her.” Ethan looked at the human seriously, glaring hard when he opened his mouth to protest. “Aiden and I killed her best friend and I think that I owe it to her not to sell her out.”

With that, Ethan turned around and grabbed Danny’s arm, and walking out of the loft.

Stiles huffed in annoyance and glanced at Scott, who was looking at him sadly. “You still think its Misery.”

“I think it wouldn’t hurt to ask her.”

“Ask her what? ‘Hey Misery, are you a witch?’”

Scott shrugged. Stiles groaned.

Kira rolled her eyes. “What about the murder today? Was that them?”

“The victim was one of them.” Derek said. Stiles glanced over at him. The wolf shrugged. “Your dad asked me to check it out after you two told him about the witches. Magic has a very distinct scent.”

Malia rolled her eyes. “So this other witch killed one of the witches looking for her?”

“No. Her familiar did.”

“What’s a familiar?” The entire group of teenagers asked in near unison.

Derek smirked to himself a little before explaining. “Powerful witches have animal familiars, if a witch is powerful enough the animal can sometimes take a human form. Some have even had werewolf familiars.”

“So, this animal is killing witches?” Kira stared at Derek, who nodded.

“Could you tell what kind of animal this familiar was?” Lydia asked in a bored tone.

“Cat.”

Scott glanced at Stiles again. Stiles rolled his eyes.

“Why are you so set on Misery being the witch?” Isaac frowned at his alpha.

“its convenient timing.” Scott sighed, looking away from his best friend. “How do we even know she’s who she says she is?”

“She’s my _cousin_ Scott.” Stiles glared at the young alpha.

“Okay, but you’ve never mentioned her until just before she moved in.”

“You think she just cast a spell on me and made me _think_ she’s my cousin?” Stiles shook his head. “Scott, I vividly remember growing up with her there, at Christmas, over the summers, when my mom died. She couldn’t’ve made up most of those memories.”

The alpha sighed and nodded, continuing to say that they weren’t going to do anything unless someone innocent got caught in the crossfire. Isaac and the girls left, leaving Scott, Stiles, and Derek.

“I should get home. Misery’s pissed that I ditched her.” Stiles sighed.

Derek snorted. “You should’ve brought her. It would’ve cleared things up a lot quicker.”

Scott glanced at Derek and then glared at Stiles. “Derek met her before I did?”

“She said that if Stiles wasn’t going to get with me, she was going to climb me like a tree.” The older wolf said with amusement.

Stiles glared at him, his face quickly turning a deep red. Scott snickered and glanced at where Isaac was sitting not that long before. “I don’t really think you have to worry about her climbing you Derek. Her and Isaac were staring at each other all day at school, not to mention he defended her when I said she might be the witch.”

The human rolled his eyes, walking toward the door. “Sure. I’ll see you guys later.”

Misery doesn’t talk to him for most of the night when he gets home. It bugs him for a while, but eventually he just ignores her too and does some research on witches, instead of his Econ homework.

She eventually calls him down for dinner and she smiles at him when he sits down. Just before they start eating, his phone buzzes in his pocket.

“Hey dad. What’s up?”

“I’m going to be home really late tonight. There was another murder, a double murder.” The sheriff sounded utterly defeated.

“You think they’re related.”

“Yeah, these victims and the other had the same brand on them.”

Stiles glanced up at Misery, who wasn’t even looking at him as she ate. “Do you want Misery and I to drop you off some food later? She made dinner and it’s awesome.”

Stilinski chuckled. “Yeah, that’d be great. I’ll probably be back at the station in an hour.”

“Okay cool, we’ll be in then.”

Misery snorted after he set the phone down. “So, you guys really do have a lot of murders around here.”

Stiles nodded and dug into his food.

When they finished, they worked on homework in silence until they left for the station. Misery looked at the building warily once they arrived.

“You okay?”

“Let’s just say when I show up at a police station, it’s usually not to drop off dinner to the sheriff.”

“When are you telling me about your life again?”

“A few more days.”

He rolled his eyes and went inside, smiling at the deputy at the desk and heading back with Misery on his tail. His dad was in his office, talking to someone else.

“Derek?” Stiles asked when he opened the door. The two older males stared at them.

Misery held out the bag with the left overs out to her Uncle. “Uh, here…”

The Sheriff nodded and took the bag, looking inside. “Thanks Misery… Uh… how was school?”

“School was fun.” She shrugged, glancing at Stiles. Stiles smiled at her encouraging, giving his dad a not so sly thumbs-up. “Stiles’ friends are really nice.”

Nodding again, the Sheriff glanced at Stiles. “I need to talk to you for a second.”

Derek nodded at Misery to step outside the office with him. The two stood awkwardly outside, glancing inside at the father and son. They resort to talking about places to eat in the town before Stiles comes out.

Misery goes to follow him, but Derek stops her. “Hey Misery. Are you a witch?”

The girl blinks at him, then glances at Stiles. When she looks at Derek again, she replies with an even toned “No.”

Nodding very slightly at Stiles, the wolf went back into the Sheriff’s office. Misery looked at her cousin questioningly, but he only shrugged and motioned for her to follow him home.

Misery doesn’t sneak into his bed that night, and he doesn’t go into her room until he after he wakes up startled from a quickly fading nightmare. When he opens the door, she’s sitting on her bed seemingly meditating.

“Couldn’t sleep either?” She asks without opening her eyes.

He sighs and sits on the bed next to her. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to sort my thoughts. It’s not going as well as I hoped.”

Snorting, he nudged her side. She opened one eye and dropped her arms. “Alright, I guess we can go to bed.”

The next day, school goes fine for the two of them. Scott kept staring at Stiles and Misery accusingly and Stiles did notice the way Isaac and Misery were staring at each other.

“Uh, so Isaac invited me to lunch and a movie with him tomorrow.” Misery said as she shut the Jeep door at the end of the day.

“Misery…”

“I haven’t told him a definite yes or no yet… I heard his last girlfriend died.”

Stiles sat back and looked at her. “Yeah. Allison.”

“I heard it wasn’t that long ago. I’m trying to make friends like you wanted me to.”

“Do you like him?”

“I don’t know him, Stiles.” She rolled her eyes at him. “I want to get to know him.”

Nodding, Stiles started the Jeep. “Isaac isn’t a bad guy. I just wish he’d stop wearing those damn scarves.”

“So it’s okay with you that I see him tomorrow?”

“Go for it, you’re a big girl.” Stiles shrugged as he pulled out of the parking lot. “Malia and Lydia are coming over tomorrow anyway.”

When they walk into the house, Misery pulls out her phone. “Uh, hey?”

Stiles gives her a look and she sighed. “My friend Charlotte.”

“Thought you said you didn’t have friends.”

She gave him the finger and went to sit on the couch. He watched her, trying to look like wasn’t actually watching her, and listened to the one side of the conversation.

“What do you mean you and Claire want to come see me? She’s supposed to be in the hospital.”

“I don’t know maybe she’s schizophrenic and she watched her sister get murdered Charlotte.”

“Okay, so you just pretended to be me and sign her out of the hospital? And don’t even try to put this back on me for signing her in there under a fake name.”

Misery took a few very deep breaths as she listened to the person on the phone. Stiles caught her gaze out of the side of his eyes. She looked away more, but didn’t move to make her severely interesting conversation more private.

“Fine. But how are you planning on getting to California? Because you’re in Pittsburg.”

Then she stood up, screaming into the phone. “Charlotte, you’re fucking blind! You can’t fucking drive.” Rubbing her forehead, she glanced at Stiles, who immediately found the corner of the room way more interesting. “No! You can’t let Claire drive!”

“Listen, Char, I love you and everything but you and Claire are going to die if either of you drive. Because neither of you can drive or read a map? Jesus, just don’t…”

“Don’t change the subject!” Misery looked at Stiles. “Charlotte says ‘hi’.”

Stiles cleared his throat and nodded. “Uh, ‘hi back’ I guess?”

She smiled and turned away from him again. “He says ‘hi’ back. But, you’re not driving. If you drive and manage to get here, I’m going to make your insides your outsides. Okay?”

“Bye Charlotte, I’ll talk to you later…” She rolled her eyes. “I’m not Skyping you later. Bye.”

When she fell back onto the couch, Stiles stared at her. “Well, that sure was interesting. So your best friend’s blind? And your other friend’s a schizophrenic?”

“No, Charlotte’s not my best friend. My best friend’s dead.” Stiles opened his mouth to apologize, but she kept talking. “Her name was Rose, and she was just so… so… she was my everything. And then one day I wake up, go outside and her head is on a stake through the hood of my car.”

Stiles reached out to her and touched her shoulder gently. When she leaned into the touch, he pulled her into a hug.

“I’m going to tell you everything tomorrow, when I get back from hanging out with Isaac.”

“Okay.” He said it softly.


	8. Lies and Broken Promises

Stiles woke up when he felt Misery crawl out of bed. He groaned and looked up at her. “What time is it?”

“Nine.”

“I usually sleep until like 2 on Saturdays, unless something is trying to kill me.”

Misery chuckled and opened the door. “I’m meeting Isaac at the theatre in two hours, and I’m going to need a ride.”

Rolling over and putting his head under his pillow and grumbled something about hating her.

“I’ll come wake you back up just before we’d have to leave.”

While Stiles is driving her over, the two didn’t say anything to each other. He awkwardly tells her to have fun when she gets out. She nods and looks away, trying to see if Isaac was already there. Stiles offers to stay with her, but Misery declines. Isaac shows up a little later, walking.

“Hey, hope you weren’t waiting long.” He said with a shy smile.

She shook her head. “Just long enough to grab our tickets.”

His face fell, taking one has she handed it to him. “I was going to pay for them.”

“It’s a total nonissue, money is in no short supply over here.” Nodding at the building, she gave him a sincere smile. “Come on, let’s go grab seats awhile.”

* -*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Lydia was rubbing her temples, standing behind Malia at Stiles’ desk. “It’s just math, Malia.”

Malia growled at her, but looked back down at her math homework. Stiles snorted. The banshee rolled her eyes and bent over the book to try to explain it to her again.

It goes on like that for a while before Stiles’ phone rings. “Hey Dad, what’s up?”

Both girls glance over at him, but quickly go back to what they were doing. The sheriff sighed. “We caught the person that was killing the witches, and one of the witches we found alive.”

“Awesome, I’m going to head to the station.”

“Why can I say witches with a casual tone? Stiles… Why?”

“You’re tellin’ me Dad.”

He glances at the girls before deciding that they weren’t going to destroy his house. Stiles makes record time on the way to the Sheriff’s station. Pulling in next to the Camaro, he huffs and mumbles something about the older wolf just getting a damned job at the station.

The Sheriff and Derek are in his dad’s office and both glance at him when he walks in. “So, where’s this cat?”

“In the lock up. He’s refusing to speak to anyone but me.” The Sheriff replied, taking a sip from his coffee mug.

“He’s not saying anything useful though.” Derek sounded annoyed. “He hissed at me when I approached him.”

“Can I take a crack at him?” Stiles asks, both men share a look before nodding grudgingly.

The Sheriff led him to the lock up and stood back away. He nodded toward the cell with the black man with the mohak laying on one of the cots. Stiles approached the cell.

The man’s eyes opened, revealing two shockingly blue orbs. He smirked and stood, walking over towards the bars. “Hello Stiles.” His voice was rough, like there was a lot of strain on his voice.

“You know me.” The teenager replied, his brain going into panic mode.

“You know me too. I don’t like new people very much, especially werewolves, like your friends at the clinic.” The man leaned against the bars, smiling at Stiles. He continued before Stiles replied. “You should watch yourself Stiles. My master isn’t the only one Orzo and his gang are after. They’ve found her, and they know where you are now.”

Stiles glanced over at his father and then took a step closer to the bars. “Why me? Cecil, why me?”

“You think they’re going to use you to get to her. You’re wrong. She’s stronger with you, with you once you’re like her.”

“A witch.”

“No, witches sell their souls for their power. Your power is inside you already, it’s just waiting for you to figure it out.”

Stiles glanced over at his father again.

“Yes. They’re going to use him against both of you if you’re not careful. You need to get out of here, get to Misery. You both need to find somewhere safe.”

He nodded and stepped back, heading towards the door. The Sheriff grabbed his arm. “Where are you going?”

“I’m gonna need Scott for this one Dad. Don’t worry.” Stiles shrugged out of his grip. Derek followed him as he walked out, giving a reassuring nod to Stilinski.

“Where are we going Stiles?” Derek asks as he gets in the passenger seat of the Jeep. Stiles just glares at him, because he knows he was listening with his super wolf hearing. “I wasn’t listening for most of it.”

“I need to get to Misery.”

“So she is the witch.”

He glared at the wolf again as he backed out of the parking spot as he dialed Misery’s number. It went to voicemail. “Can you try Isaac?”

Derek nods and pulls out his phone.

* -*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Misery and Isaac had just sat down in the café and ordered. The wolf was all googly eyed at her. She just sat there sipping at her drink and looking out the window.

“You alright?”

“Huh?” She looked at him and smiled. “Yeah, sorry. Just have this feeling something’s going to happen.”

Isaac nodded and scratched his head. “So, where did you grow up?”

Snorting, she pushed her drink away. “I lived here with the Sheriff and Stiles until I was about four or five, when my godmother was a respectable age. After that, I spent a decent amount of time at her house in Maine until I was about eleven. I travel a lot mostly.”

“Where have you been?”

“Where haven’t I been, more like it.” As she took another sip, she smirked. “I even lived with a pack of honest to goodness wolves for six months when I turned sixteen.”

“Wolves?”

“Stupid ritual my godmother family does as a rite of passage. I’m sure it’s much easier for the werewolf members of her family.”

He blinked at her a few times. “You know about werewolves?”

“Oh yeah. I mean, I spent like two Christmases with the Hales before the fire. My godmother is actually an alpha herself.”

“Really? So you know…”

“That you’re a wolf? Yes. Scott’s a wolf, Kira a Kitsune, Lydia’s a Banshee, and I like Malia’s a wolf but…”

“Coyote.”

“Ah.” Misery glanced out the window again. “By the way, next time I see your alpha, I’m going to kick him in the throat for telling Orzo he had permission to look for me.”

“He didn’t know…”

“He thought about it.”

“Why are you here, if you were putting people in danger?”

“I was going to face Orzo, but I needed a few days. To feel out the town, and the pack… I came because I can’t do it without Stiles.”

The wolf opened his mouth to reply, but someone replied at the table behind him. “You really think your Little Red can help you fight off Orzo? You’re such a child Misery.”

The origin of the voice stood up and walked over to them. It was the woman Scott had described from Deaton’s. Isaac became to rise, a growl in his throat. Misery reached across the table to stop, nodding around the room, where many adults had risen. One had grabbed a waitress and held a blade to her neck.

“I really think that him not giving his cohorts all the information he has is very smart on his behalf.” Misery casually took another sip. “There’s a lot you don’t know about him.”

“Oh, but sweet girl, there’s something you don’t know.” The woman pulled out a phone and held it out to the two teenagers. Isaac glanced at the brand on her wrist before looking at the screen. On the screen was a picture of Stiles strung up by his hands and knocked out and Derek wolfed out and pushing against a circle of mountain ash.

Misery stood up, tattoo glowing white and hot, and gripped the collar of the woman’s shirt. “Where is my cousin?”

The woman just smirked and snapped her fingers, vanishing from Misery’s grip in a cloud of smoke. Misery glanced at Isaac before heading out of the café, her phone to her ear.


	9. Wake Up Stiles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of shit happens, and it's super long! Woot!

Scott answered his phone, confused as to why Misery was calling him or even how she had gotten his number. “Uh, hey Misery?”

“I need you to meet me as soon as you can.”

“What’s wrong?” He could hear Isaac calling after her in the background. “What happened?”

“They took Stiles. The coven you let in your territory took your best friend.” She was definitely crying. “And I swear to god if you say ‘you are the witch’ I’m going to stab you when you get here.”

“Where are you?”

“Isaac and I are downtown…” That was when Isaac took the phone and gave his alpha the precise location.

Scott sighed as he apologized to Kira and left on his bike, speeding away.

Misery leaned back against the wall of the nearest building, hyperventilating. Isaac wedged her phone back into her hands and leaned down so he could look into her face, which was pale with fear. She looked down at her phone as it buzzed several times in her hand. She opened up the messages to see more pictures of Stiles strung up, one even included one of the witches sticking a knife into Derek’s stomach. The phone dropped out of her hands as she covered her face. Her tattoo glowed again and the window next to her shattered.

“Oh… oh god…” Isaac reached out to her and pulled her hands away from her face. “We’re going to get him back.”

“This isn’t how I wanted him to find out…” She shook her head and pushed away from the wall and buried her face in the crook of the beta’s neck. Isaac did nothing from shock for a few seconds before his sense kicked back in and he wrapped his arms around her gently.

They stayed like that until Scott pulled up on his bike. He pulled off his helmet as Isaac pulled off the girl. The alpha and the witch stared at each other for a few second before apologizing to each other.

“I should have told you all everything when I got here. I’m so sorry Scott.” Misery said quickly, holding out her hand in a pleading manner.

“No, I should have thought more about letting them in. I thought it could’ve been you… but…”

Isaac sighed and held out Misery’s phone. “This is where they’re keeping Derek and Stiles. Do you recognize it?”

Scott grimaced and took the phone. He scrolled through the pictures before handing the phone back. “Eichen House. That’s the basement of Eichen House.”

“The Mental Hospital? Why would…” Misery looked at the pictures herself and shook her head. “Fuck… alright, there’s nothing we can do but go there, right?”

“We need to go with a game plan…”

“The plan is get my cousin back and not die.” She walked over to Scott’s bike. “Not all three of us are going to fit on this.”

Isaac shook his head. “Go get Stiles. I’ll fill in the rest of the pack.”

Scott nodded and got on the bike, Misery getting on behind him. He offered her his helmet but she just smirked. “Hope you have a need for speed Scotty, because this bike is about to get a magic supercharger.”

“What?” He gets his answer in way of her grabbing his steering wheel with a glowing hand and his bike jolting forward. Swearing, he takes control of the bike and hopes that if he does pass any cops on the way to Eichen House.

* -*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Stiles woke up, his feeling lost in his fingers and his arms tired. A werewolf was growling next to him and he remembered he and Derek had been in the Jeep, driving into town when the Jeep had just stopped and another car pulled up.

He opened his eyes and instantly regretted it. Before he sent himself into a panic attack, he turned his head to see Derek pushed against a mountain ash barrier. “Derek…”

The wolf stopped and turned his blue eyes toward the teen. He let out a grateful sigh. “I thought you might never wake up.”

Nodding, Stiles looked over Derek. He was covered in blood, but looked like the injuries had healed. “I’m sorry…”

Derek pulled back the fangs and claws. “It’s not your fault Stiles.”

“Oh, dear wolf, I’d say it is his fault.” A voice said from the stairs as Stiles heard footsteps. “Though, had Misery not run home, we’d have never found you, _Stiles._ ”

Orzo came into the dim light of the basement, flanked by three other people, one of which was the woman who had threatened Misery in the café.

Derek growled. “Let him go.”

“Oh, I have no intention of letting him go.”

“It’s not him you want.”

“Yes it is. I want the complete set.” The witch walked towards the two of them and pulled something out of the pocket of his robe. It was two pieces of paper, which he threw to Derek in his magic prison. Stiles glanced at them, recognizing them as birth certificates. “Twins of the Crescent Moon, Brother and Sister in Fate.”

Derek picked them up and glanced over at Stiles. The teen frowned. “Misery and I are cousins.”

“But twins none the less.” Orzo smiled at him and ran a finger down his jaw line. “I had to make sure it was you, born on the same day, same time down to the minute. Even better than twins.”

Stiles shrugged out of his touch, but said nothing. Derek growled again, smashing a fist against the barrier. The female witch raised her hand and cut sprouted across the wolf’s chest, sending him backwards from the barrier.

“Don’t hurt him. Whatever you want from me, fine, but don’t hurt Derek. He has nothing to do with this.” The human struggled against his restraints, glaring at the man.

“Doesn’t he? You’re connected to your pack, and he’s your pack. Maybe I should just end him right here.”

Stiles glanced down at Derek, who had decided it wasn’t worth his energy to keep fighting against the mountain ash. He stopped struggling and sighed.

“Good boy. I’m sure Misery will be here soon. It’s been a while since I’ve seen.” He turned and nodded to the other three. “Thanks for the chat, Stiles.”

When Stiles heard the door shut he swore and looked down at Derek. “You alright?”

The wolf glared at him and huffed. “You really think your cousin’s coming?”

“She fucking better be.”

“You and her were really born-…”

“Yeah. Apparently, when we were really little, we could scream at the top of our lungs if we were separated for more than a few minutes.”

Derek nodded and stood back up, walking as close to Stiles as the barrier allowed. Stiles turned away and looked around the room again. He shut his eyes tightly. “I wish she’d be quicker.”

* -*-*-*-*-*-*-*

When Scott and Misery pull up to the gates of Eichen House, Scott immediately feels it, an energy pulsing off the gate. Misery got off the bike and walked over to the gate, putting her hand out and pushed. The space around her hand glowed and she looked back and Scott. “It’s in a time lock. Anyone inside when the spell was cast is held where they were at the time. Come on.”

The alpha nodded and pulled off his helmet before following her through the gates that opened on their own. The two walked through the lobby, seeing a few nurses frozen behind the desk. Misery looks back at Scott. “Where’s the basement?”

He took a deep breath before walking down one of the hallways. She followed him silently.

When they got to the door, Scott opened it up and glanced back at Misery.

Hearing the door open again had Stiles opening his eyes again. Derek was still standing there, watching him with deep rooted concern. The wolf glanced towards the stairs with a smile. “It’s Scott and Misery.”

Stiles sighed gratefully as he saw his cousin run down the stairs and towards him. Misery reached up towards the cuffs on his wrists, her tattoo glowing brightly. She swore and looked at his face. “Fuck, it’s locked with a curse…”

Scott walked over and grimaced at Derek. “Dude…”

The older wolf huffed. “We’re fine.”

“Not for much longer.” Orzo’s voice came from the top of the stairs and Misery froze, her hand stopping from where she was reaching to hug her cousin. Scott turned to the stairs and growled. The female witch was the first to come down the stairs, pulling a pouch from her pocket and throwing to at Scott. The contents poured onto the floor before it hit Scott, the powder fell into a circle.

Then Orzo came down and smiled at Scott. “Heard you broke through a circle once, so we cooked up something special for you, Alpha McCall.”

Stiles looked from his best friend to Misery, whose face was frozen in fear. “Misery… Misery…” She glanced up at Stiles and shook her head. “Come on…”

Orzo’s gaze turned to the two cousin. “It’s been a while Misery. You were always one of my favorite pupils.”

“You were far from my favorite teacher, Orzo.” She plastered a grin, which she showed to Stiles before turning and giving it to the witch. “I was hoping to never run into you ever again. It’s like running into a teacher at the grocery store, don’t you think?”

“That hurts, my dear. You know you were always like a daughter to me.” He smiled at her fondly. “And I’d like to add your cousin to the family too.”

“Stiles already has a family.” She said sweetly.

“You mean the dead mother and alcoholic father?”

Both Scott and Derek growled and pushed against their respective barriers. The female witch giggled and snapped her fingers, causing both wolves to fall into the ground as their faces were cut.

“Leave the wolves alone Hannah.” Misery glared at the female witch, her arm glowing. She received a smile in return as the witch took a step back.

“Do you still have what I asked for you to hold for me?” Orzo asked, his tone serious and threatening. Misery turned her gaze to him and took a deep breath.

“You need it so soon?”

The witch nodded to the other two male witches, who instantly walked over and grabbed one of her arms each. She glared at him as he moved closer. “Don’t…”

Misery didn’t get to finish as Orzo lifted up her shirt and pressed his fingers into her stomach. She grunted, turning her head so she wasn’t looking at him. His fingers broke through her skin with a flash of red light as Misery coughed up blood, the liquid dripping down his chin.

As Orzo reached around inside Misery’s torso, his face turned angrier and angrier. Finally he pulled his hand out and instantly struck her across the face. She fell back from impact, at Stiles feet. Looking up at him, she wiped the blood from her mouth and smiled. “I’m alright Stiles.”

He nodded as Orzo hauled her back to her feet. “Where is?”

“Bottom of some body of water, somewhere.” She smirked at him.

“You pulled it out yourself?”

“What? Like it’s hard?”

Orzo gave her a human growl and released her. He headed up the stairs. “Kill the wolves, and gather up Misery and Stiles. They’re coming with us whether they want to or not.”

The female witch smiled as the door shut, walking to the barrier around Scott and bringing her fist. Scott growled and gripped his chest. The two males were walking over to Derek, fire surrounding both of their hands. Misery reached down and pulled a small dagger from her ankle.

“You can’t fight all three of them by yourself.” Stiles whispered loudly behind her. She frowing back at him before talking magical sounding gibberish. He stared at her as she put her glowing hand over his rapidly beating heart. “What are you doing?”

He felt something wash into him, and he guessed it was Misery’s magic. She said a few more nonsense words before taking a deep breath. “God I hope this works.” Then she took the dagger and stabbed through her hand, into Stiles’ chest.

Stiles and Misery both screamed and a white light surrounded to the two cousins before pulsing out into the rest of the room. The two wolves screamed Stiles’ names as the witches turned away in panic before disappearing all together.

When the light cleared later, the mountain ash barriers were gone. Derek reached the two cousins first. They had both fallen onto the ground, Stiles’ handcuffs nowhere to be seen, unconscious. The blade was still connecting Misery’s hand and Stiles’ chest, which mircously still held a heartbeat. Derek reached out to pull it out, but it disappeared upon being touched. Scott knelt next to the older wolf and took Stiles’ hand, which was glowing with tattoos similar to his cousin’s as Scott’s gained black veins as he took his best friend’s pain.

“We need to get them out of here.” Derek said calmly.

Nodding, Scott picked up Misery and Derek picked up Stiles. When they walked out of the building, they noticed the nurses and patients slowly moving. They also found Lydia outside with her car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no! You're going to have to wait for things because the next chapter is a flash back of some things that happened pre-Stiles and Misery, so there will be lots of baby sheriff, who for no particular reason will be referred hence for as having the first name David.


	10. Years Long Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jesus this one is long. Sorry that it's all back story! It's about The Sheriff and his baby sister back in the good ole days. I'm aware there's a decent amount of gaps, but we'll learn more later. Also, reminder than Stilinski's first name is David, for no reason other than it was the first name that wasn't Jon I thought of.

David Stilinski was almost nine years old when his mother announced that she was pregnant. Both of his parents were from powerful magical families, carrying tattoos that held their power, but he hadn’t shown any significant talent. A few weeks after his seventh birthday his crazy aunt Margery had tried to awaken his powers and reveal his tattoos, but it only left him with a scar around his wrist and a concussion. He held proficiency for spells that had nonneed for natural magical talent and often helped his mother with rituals for more complicated spells though.

Both of his parents were on edge through the pregnancy, even if they were excited for a second child. David had heard that women that birthed children of the Stilinski magic line were doomed to die at least before the child’s 18th year. His father, whose own mother had died during child birth of his youngest sister, only two years younger than him, watched his wife like he was looking at a ghost.

Nine months later, Midge Stilinski gave birth to her second child, a girl which her and her husband Robert name Cynthia, and survived. David looked over the edge of the bassinet with curiosity at his younger sister. She looked back up at him big eyes, reaching out towards him. He was quickly shooed by his great aunt, who had come to see if Cynthia held any magical talents. His aunt gave him the stink eye when he didn’t leave the room. Later he overheard Margery telling his parents that the girl would most certainly be a powerful mage.

When David turned 18 and Cynthia was nine, their mother died. Most Stilinski women died due to magically induced insanity or heart failure, but Midge died at the barrel of a hunter’s gun.

He was walking through the forest with his then girlfriend while his mother and Aunt Margery were showing Cynthia a few spells in a different part of the forest. The girl was laughing at a joke when he heard the shot and his sister’s scream. She yelled after him as he ran towards the scream.

When he got to the scene he saw a hunter holding a gun towards Cynthia where she was crying over to their mother’s body. He also saw two more where his aunt was standing next to her. His aunt glanced over at him, before slipping a knife from her sleeve and plunging it through the hand she had on Cynthia’s back. His arm goes up instinctively to shield his eyes from the resulting light. When it dimmed, the hunters were gone, he ran to where his aunt was panting next to his little sister. His eyes went to her arm, which had dancing patterns of light covering it, then to her back where there was a bloody wound.

“You get Cynthia, take her home. I’ll wait here with your mother…” His aunt said and he nodded, picking up the younger girl just as his girlfriend walked into the clearing.

She didn’t say anything just following him, crawling into the front of her old blue Jeep as he got into the back with Cynthia. “She needs to get to the hospital.”

“I need to get her home to my father.” The girl just nodded and took him to his house. When they get home, his father gives his son a list of herbs and goes to retrieve his wife’s body. As he prepares the herbs, he explains to the girl about his family.

The girl just nods calmly as she pets his younger sister’s hair. Even when he’s done, she just smiles at him and kisses him gently. She even offers to clean up Cynthia’s wounds.

Two years later, when David is home on leave over his sister’s birthday, the two were walking through the woods. The then eleven year old was walking solely on the jutting roots and fallen logs, magical path hovering above the ground where there were gaps.

“Are you going to marry Claudia? Because I think you should.” She said suddenly, after she finished talking about her classes.

He snorted and pushed on her shoulder. She yelped and fell off her magical platform. “Jerk.”

“I was thinking about it, but not until after I’ve finished serving.”

Brushing off the dirt, she pouted at him. “You could be dead until then!”

Laughing he kept walking. She reached for his arm after she pulled herself up. “Careful, we’re getting close to Hale territory.”

“The werewolves? They’re not going to hurt us.”

“Dad and the new Alpha, Talia, got into an argument the other day.” 

“Talia? She’s only a few years older than me, isn’t she?”

Cynthia nodded. “Heard she’s pregnant with her first pup.” When David gave her a confused look, she shrugged. “Anyway, you should totally marry Claudia, because I already call her my sister and she’s practically moved in.”

“Has she?” He smiled to himself.

“Yep, since Dad spends most of the time pouring over books in the library, he doesn’t pay much attention to me.”

“What’s he doing in the library?”

“Looking for a prophecy. Auny Margery says he’s convinced that you and I are cursed.”

Snorting, he glanced into the dense woods surrounding the primary Hale territory. “Well, he said he wanted to talk to me later.”

Staring at him, Cynthia was tackled to the ground by a girl a few years younger than her. The girl’s eyes were glowing yellow and her face was distorted into something inhuman, David immediately recognized her as a werewolf.

“David, get her off of me, her claws are cutting into my shoulders.” Cynthia whined as the werewolf girl gave her a toothy grin.

He rolled his eyes and pulled the young girl away. She kept staring at Cynthia. “Are you a Hale?”

“Nope. Lucian, Vanessa Lucian. We’re visiting Aunt Talia for her baby shower.” She points her finger at Cynthia as she stands up and rubs at the cuts on her shoulders with a glowing hand. “Who are you?”

“Cynthia Stilinski.”

“You’re my mage.” Vanessa pulled back her wolf features as she turned to look where two female voices were calling her name. “And I’m your wolf.”

The younger Stilinski stared at her as David smiled at his sister. “She’s your familiar sis.”

Two adults female wolves, not shifted, came into the area the three were standing. One picked up Vanessa and scolded her. The other flashed red eyes at the two siblings. David recognized her from high school.

“Tal- Alpha Hale.” He nodded his head at her.

She nodded back at him. “I’m sorry about my god daughter, Stilinski.”

“It’s not a problem…” Both of the adults eyes went to where Vanessa was squirming in her mother’s arms and reaching towards Cynthia. “But, I’m almost positive Vanessa is my sister’s familiar.”

Talia’s eyes went to Cynthia who was staring at the werewolf girl. “Very well, please come back to my house.”

The woman holding Vanessa set her down, and she instantly took Cynthia’s hand. Cynthia’s tattoos glowed as did the young wolf’s eyes. David clamped his hand on his sister’s shoulder and pushed her forward to follow the alpha.

Once inside the Hale home, David spotted Talia’s husband, her two brothers, one older than her and human, and the other a few years older than Cynthia. Also several female wolves and humans around tables decorated in pink and yellow.

They followed Talia into a study where she shut the doors and sat in and arm chair. Vanessa’s mother fetched a book off one of the shelves and handed it to her. David stood by a desk and looked around the room, which was much more organized than his father’s study. The two girls sat on a love seat and were talking to each other about nothing much, the wolf doing more of the talking than the mage.

“David, I know you yourself are not a mage, but do you think you could cast this spell?” Talia looked at him kindly, but not smiling.

He took the book and glanced over the spell, which seemed to be written by a druid considering the ritual required and wording. “If it’s alright to draw on your floor.”

Copying the symbol in the book meticously, he had Cynthia and Vanessa stand in the center as he recited the spell. When he finished the circle was glowing. He shut the book and smiled. “Yep, Vanessa’s Cynthia’s familiar.”

“I didn’t even know werewolves could be familiars.” Cynthia said flatly.

"For very powerful magic workers, werewolves make fierce familiars.” Talia said as she stood. “Cynthia would you like to stay for awhile? Vanessa’s mother should call her husband and inform him.”

She looked to her brother. He shrugged. “I’ll come pick you up before dinner.” Nodding, she looked at Vanessa, who smiled and pulled her out of the room.

“You’ll call me if something happens?” He directed the question at Talia as the other wolf left the room as well. The alpha nodded and showed him out of the house.

When he got home, he went into his father’s study, where the man was at his desk, a single scroll and a spiral notebook in front of him.

“I’ve been translating this since your mother died.” Robert looked up at his son, looking wholly dead inside. He held out the notebook to him. “I knew I wouldn’t like what I found, but you and Cynthia need to know.”

David opened it up and read the scrawl written across the first page, with words being crossed out until his father had settled on “the curse of the twin crescents” as the title of scroll. He looked up at his father. “Cynthia and I aren’t twins.”

“No. This prophecy isn’t about you, it’s about your children. You and your sister are the only members of our family that could have children that could fit this prophecy. As you know, my brothers are no longer capable of having children and my sisters have all died in childbirth, taking their children with them.”

“But, both of us?”

“It is possible for you and her to have children at a similar enough time for the prophecy to consider them twins.”

“What are they supposed to do?”

“That part of the document is missing. But the part I have alludes to it either being the destruction of the world or the defeat of a great evil.”

David sighed through his nose. “Are you sure it’s going to be Cynthia and I?”

“If it’s not you two, then the prophecy will need to wait several hundred years.”

“I’ll look over it before I go.”

“Where is Cynthia by the way? Usually she’d be listening by the door.”

“She’s at the Hale house.” He saw the anger flash in her father’s eyes. “While we were walking, we met her familiar. A young werewolf name Vanessa.”

“Vanessa? Alpha Lucian’s daughter?”

“I guess so? Her last name was Lucian, so…”

“Very well. It can’t be helped then.”

It was two years later, just before David was released from active duty, that Robert Stilinski died of heart break. David’s only solace in his last few months of service was that his now Fiancé Claudia was taking care of his younger sister, and Vanessa would undoubtedly be doing everything to cheer up her mage.

Another year, and Claudia and David became husband and wife on a Saturday afternoon in May.

It was another year before David found the time between taking care of his teenaged sister, new wife, and new job as a desk deputy at the sheriff’s station that he had finally read the entirety of the translation of the prophecy. He agreed that the prophecy was about him and his younger sister, and that scared him. More than anything, he wanted kids with Claudia, normal kids. She had told him she wouldn’t mind raising a mage, but he hadn’t told he what happened to women that had children with his blood and his sister’s magic.

Another year passed and he sat down with Cynthia to talk about the prophecy. Vanessa was laying on the floor by her mage’s feet, reading a text book and looking utterly bored by it. “What are you talking about bro?”

“The prophecy that dad was working on in the years after mom died…”

She just sighed with annoyance. He glared at her, wishing that she was any age other than 16. “The prophecy about our kids Cynthia.

Vanessa snorted from the floor. “Cynthia and I had this conversation, she never wants kids. Which only slightly has to do with the fact that she’ll die if she does.”

Cynthia rolled her eyes. “We went over and saw Talia’s new baby yesterday, and let me tell you that I hate babies. That boy is a monster”

“You hate babies? I hate Peter. That guy gives me the heeby-jeebies.”

“Focus girls.” David just sat back on the sofa and rubbed his face.

“Okay, so a prophecy about our potential children, but it’s called Twin Crescents?”

“It defines twins as anyone sharing blood born on the same day.”

Nodding, his sister set her book down. “So, what else?”

“A boy and girl. Before they can fufill the prophecy thing, they need to do a couple of things.”

“Which include?”

“Getting possessed, losing their mothers, having a familiar, meeting their soulmate…”

“Soulmates are a thing?” Vanessa asked, receiving a kick to the head from the older girl.

“So, I would have to die.”

“Yeah.”

“These kids of ours are going to be really fucked up David.”

He took a deep breath. “There’s more…” She glared at him, because obviously there was more. “Before their magic is woken up, they’re free to die normally…”

“'Free to die normally'… what does that mean..?”

“While they’re different, neither can die. So if my daughter had her magic woken up, and your son got bitten by a wolf, neither of would ever die.”

“ _Ever_ ever? Like true immortality?” Vanessa apparently gave up on her homework.

He nodded. “And once they’re the same, if one dies…”

Cynthia shook her head. “They’d both die.” She stood up and frowned at her brother. “I promise that I’m not having kids, David. You and Claudia go ahead and start a family. I promise, it’ll be okay.”

That was the end of the conversation.

Three days later, the day Vanessa was to be picked up by her parents, during dinner Vanessa’s eyes suddenly started glowing red. Cynthia was the first to notice and she ran over to her familiar, preemptively soothing her before Claudia blurted out the change of color.

Alpha and Mrs. Lucian had died on the way over in a nasty car accident, leaving the pack to the 13 year old Vanessa, who promptly moved in with Talia.

Over the next four years, Vanessa grew into a powerful Alpha and Cynthia became a very powerful mage. It was also four years later that Claudia knocked on her sister-in-law’s door with a smile.

Vanessa opened the door. “Hey Di. Tia’s not feeling too well.”

“It’s alright Van, let her in… it was just that Chinese food.” Cynthia said, walking over in her pajamas.

“That was a week ago. You should see a doctor.” The werewolf moved to let Claudia in.

“You seem happy Di, what’s up?”

“I feel really guilty telling you before David, but I was hoping you could help figure out how to tell him.” Mrs. Stilinski said happily.

“Tell David what, Claudia?”

“I’m pregnant!” Claudia squealed and Cynthia’s eyes went wide, hugging her quickly.

“Congratulations!”

Vanessa’s eyes were wide too, and she was obviously sniffing the air. When Claudia left, Vanessa glared at her mage. “When was the last time you had sex?”

“What? You know that, it was like two weeks ago.”

"With a man, Cynthia." 

“Uh… like Junior prom… Why?”

“Tia, I think you’re pregnant too.”

“What?”

“You smell the same as Di.”

“But…”

“Prophecies find away.”

When Cynthia tells her brother, it’s not joyous, it’s not even remotely happy. Both siblings were terrified. Cynthia didn’t have a smooth pregnancy, several miscarriage scares and she has a heart attack during the second trimester. She honestly hoped she’d loose the baby, it was bringing her and itself nothing but Misery.


	11. Wait... What?

“Will you please tell what the hell is happening? Isaac was talking to us about you guys, and then suddenly I’m getting out of my car at Eichen House.” Lydia said angrily at Derek as she drove. She glanced back to see Scott behind her on his bike.

 “She stabbed him in the heart.” He finally said.

“What? Is he dead? _What?_ ”

“He’s still alive, barely…” Derek replied quietly.

Nodding, the Banshee sped up the car. She pulled into the Stilinski driveway and turned off the car. Derek quickly pulled Stiles out of the car, after prying the teen’s fingers from his cousin’s. Scott grabbed Misery. Lydia glanced at the car next to hers and her eyes shot open, calling after the wolves.

Derek had already kicked open the door, and was being greeted by a startled Sheriff Stilinski’s gun. Scott came in right after him, as the sheriff lowered the gun, his eyes flickering between his son and niece.

“Go put them both in Stiles’ room.”

“Sheriff…” Scott said calmly. Cecil, in human form, walked into the entryway and took Misery from him with a heavy sigh and giving the girl a disapproving once over.

The man glared at the teen and nodded at Derek and Cecil. The two nodded back and carried the teenagers upstairs. “I need you to go to Deaton’s and ask him for these.” He handed him a folded piece of paper.

Scott opened it up and looked over the list, seeing herbs he recognized and some he didn’t. He looked back at the Sheriff to question him, but only received a stern glare. With a nod, he turned and sped off on his bike.

Lydia then came in and blinked at the Sheriff. He just sighed and rubbed his wrist. “I’m going to need your help, come on.”

She nodded and followed him upstairs, confused. When they entered Stiles’ room, Derek had moved a chair to where he could sit next to Stiles, looking at him with fear etched onto his face. The other man was not to be seen, instead there was a pure white cat curled up next to Misery’s head. The two cousins had their hands connected between them, their tattoos glowing and dancing on their skin angrily.

Stilinski glanced at his son sadly before walking over to his niece. He placed a hand over her eyes and started speaking what Lydia recognized as Latin commands to wake up.

Misery gasped and sat up, her free hand went up to her chest as she gasped for air. She looked around the room, first at Lydia, then Derek, and finally her uncle.

“Y-You… you used magic…” She stared at her uncle as Cecil moved to lick the blood off the back of her hand.

The Sheriff nodded sternly. “When you woke up Stiles’ magic, it unblocked the memories your mother hid from me. Some aren’t fully back yet, I remember magic, but not specifics.”

Taking a deep breath, Misery ran her fingers through her hair. “Awesome, that’s super unhelpful at the moment.”

“Can you heal his wound?” The Sheriff nodded at his son then. Misery looked over at him too.

“Derek, can you rip off his shirt?”

He looked up at her, a range of emotions competing on his face before annoyance won out. The wolf did as asked though, taking the collar and ripping it down the middle. Misery ran her fingers over the cut. “The heart healed almost instantly, but the skin will take longer. His magic will stitch it up though.”

“And your hand?”

“What’s another scar?” She shrugged.

Derek grunted after a long silence. “So you lied to me, when I asked if you were a witch.”

Looking over at him, she smiled. “Semantics my dear wolf. I would never refer to myself as a ‘witch’. Witches consort with demons, witches sell their souls for their power. My power comes from a long history of magic within the Stilinski mage clan. I am a mage.”

The Sheriff snorted, “I’m going to go brew up the herbs Scott just brought in.” He turned to leave but looked back. “Derek.”

The wolf looked at him reluctantly. “Sheriff?”

“Don’t kill Misery, or Stiles will die too.” Then he went downstairs said a few words to Scott and went into the kitchen.

Scott stood in the doorway, his eyes locked on Misery. She glanced at him and then looked away. The alpha took a step forward, his eyes glowing red. “It would be a good idea for you to start explaining.”

“Scott…” Lydia said softly, but the wolf just huffed at her before Misery looked at him again.

“Explaining what? Why I stabbed Stiles in the heart? Why he’s not dead?” She chuckled and ran the back of her hand over the blood soaked forehead of her cousin.

“It’d be a good start.”

“Scott stop. Now’s not really the time.” Derek said, glaring at the younger werewolf.

“Moreover, why explain it twice? I’ll have to tell Stiles when he wakes up anyway.” Misery added, throwing the alpha a very unimpressed look.

“When will he wake up?”

“It would normally take a few days, being woken up like this, but what Uncle is brewing downstairs should have him awake and well before day break tomorrow.”

Scott let a growl rumble out of his chest. Misery blinked at him before looking over at the cat that was nuzzled up against her. She then looked at Derek. “Hey, Derbear, I’m going to need you to let Scott sit there.”

Derek glared at her, but then glanced at Scott. He got up grudgingly. “I hated it when Laura called me that, why do you think I’d like it if you called me that?”

“I didn’t.” She smiled at him sweetly before turning the sweet looking at the alpha that still had his red eyes on. “Scott, do everyone a favor and sit your ass down. And take his other hand while you’re at it.”

The Alpha looked at her distrustingly.

“You don’t impress me, Scott. I was raised by an Alpha werewolf; I have met much older and more powerful alphas than yourself.”

Huffing slightly, Scott sat down and took Stiles’ hand. The glowing tattoos on Stiles’ arm calmed slightly, their movements less erratic and almost tractable.

Misery smiled at him softly but didn’t say anything. A few minutes later, the Sheriff called for Lydia and she quickly scampered off downstairs.

When she returned half an hour later with the Sheriff, the Sheriff had a mug of a foul smelling liquid. Both wolves wrinkled their noses in displeasure.

“Are we making him drink that?” Lydia asked as she held a piece of paper with crudely written latin.

The Sheriff nodded. “Can one of you prop up his head and open his mouth?”

Derek did it almost immediately. The Sheriff thanked him and slowly poured the liquid into his son’s mouth. Stiles made a small choking noise before swallowing it despite his unconscious state. Nodding to Lydia, Stilinski didn’t take his eyes off his son.

“Shouldn’t Misery do this? She’s the w- mage.”

“I’m spending all my magic keeping his from bursting again.”

The banshee took a deep breath and glared at the paper before reading out loud. When she finished, the tattoo on Stiles’ arm settled into a pattern of runes, very similar to the one on his cousin’s arm, that looked very much like waves, flames, trees, and gusts of air and a pair of crescent moon surrounded by various other lines.

Misery and the Sheriff both sighed and relief, tension releasing from both of them.

“You should all go…”

“Not Scott.” Misery said firmly.

The Sheriff looked at his son and his best friend and then glanced at the Cecil. “You think so?”

“Pretty damn sure.”

Nodding, the man nodded at Derek and Lydia. “Let them get some rest. They’ll call you later.” They left, Derek more reluctant to leave than Lydia.

“What are you sure of Misery?” Scott glared at Misery. Misery glanced where Scott was still holding Stiles’ hand.

“I think you’re my cousin’s familiar.”

“His what?”

She rolled her eyes as Cecil jumped off the bed and transformed into his human form. “His familiar. Very powerful magic workers have them. If we’re powerful enough, they’re animals that can take human form, or humans that can take an animals’ form.”

Scott stared at Cecil for a while before looking down at Stiles. “What do familiars do?”

“Provide companionship, mostly.” Cecil responded with a smirk. “But we also can recharge our mage’s magic, sped up their healing, if we’re powerful enough. As a true alpha, I’m sure you’re powerful enough.”

Then Cecil went back to his cat form and curled up on Misery’s lap. Misery ran a hand through his fur. “And I know werewolves can be familiars. My mother’s familiar was a wolf.”

Taking a deep breath, Scott nodded. Misery shooed off her cat. “I’m going to clean up. If he wakes up, howl.” She winked at him before leaving. Scott just rolled his eyes.


	12. Dreamspace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super duper short chapter, but it's... just read it. Promise a long chapter will be accompanying it in the next few day. Happy New Year!

Stiles was standing in what seemed to be his bedroom, except it was way cleaner than his room, and everything seemed to bathed in white light. He felt a throbbing pain in his chest and looked down to see his shirt stained with blood. His hands came up to his face as he remembered Misery’s hand on his chest then a knife plunging into his heart. There was light coming from one of his hands and he pulled them farther away from his face to see his one arm covered in glowing tattoos like Misery’s.

“Stiles.” A voice he recognized said from behind him.

He turned towards it and tears welled up in his eyes. Claudia Stilinski was standing in the doorway of his room, wearing the dress she was buried in. She was smiled at her son and reached out for him. When he reached her, he buried his face in the crook of her neck and let himself cry freely as she wrapped her arms around him.

“Am I dead?” Stiles asked through his sobs.

“No, by beautiful son. You’re not dying, you’re changing and your body put your mind here to protect it.”

“So, this is a dream?” Stiles pulled back and looked over his mother’s features. She smiled and wiped his tears easily.

“In some ways, in many ways it’s a lot like Bardo, which I’ve heard you’re quite familiar with.”

“Are you real?”

“What’s to say what is and isn’t real Stiles. Your best friend is a werewolf, and when you wake up you’ll be a mage. A few years ago, you would’ve sworn they were just fairy tales.”

Sniffing, Stiles nodded. “Alright. Why are you here? To comfort me about the fact that my cousin stabbed me in the fucking heart?”

Claudia chuckled and pulled him so they were both sitting on his bed. “Misery did what she had to do. By waking up your magic so violently, the witches that planned on hurting Scott and Derek were killed and the four of you set free.”

Looking at his mother, he frowned. “How do you…”

“Before you and Misery were born, your father and I weren’t ignorant about the supernatural. Your aunt and I had lunch with Talia Hale on many occasions.”

“What?”

“The magic,” Claudia picked up her son’s glowing arm and traced the patterns, “has been a part of your father’s side of the family for many years. His brain handled the magic keeping his memories from him much better than mine did.”

Stiles started tearing up again and pulled his arm away from his mother. “Why did you have to forget?”

“For your sake. You and Misery had to be separated and you couldn’t know the truth. I didn’t know why, but I know that you and Misery, together and both with magic…” Claudia was tearing up too. “I’m sorry my son. Nothing good is going to come of it, nothing good will happen to you from now on my son.”

“What do you mean?”

“There are plans for you and her. There have always been plans for you and her, and now every member of your pack is involved.”

“You mean Orzo?”

Claudia shook her head before standing up and kissing the top of Stiles’ head. “I need to go.”

Stiles grabbed her hand and held onto her tightly. “M-Mom… what are you talking about?”

“I’m sorry son, I was selfish, and now everyone is going to pay the price for it.” Claudia was full out crying now, tugging her hand out of her son’s grip.

“Mom!”

“Goodbye Stiles. I hope it is a long time before we see each other again. Tell your father that I love him.” Then Claudia disappeared in a pulse of light.

Stiles stared where she was standing for a long while. The room dulled and he turned to see a transparent image of Scott sitting next to his bed. The wolf was half asleep despite the pain he was pulling into himself, pain Stiles recognized as his own. He stood and saw movement in the corner, then a different one. Finally a figure emerged from the darkness of one of the corners. He recognized her from pictures.

“Aunt Cynthia?”

The woman grinned and the image of Scott faded away. Her eyes flashed black as she walked over to him. “So, you’re my brother’s brat huh? Are you as big a disappointment as mine?”

His eyes narrowed as he took a step back. “You’re not really my aunt, are you?”

“No, _Stiles_ , I really am. I was sentenced to the pit.” She scoffed and crossed her arms. “Enough small talk though, they’re watching you.”

“Who are watching me?”

Rolling her eyes which had returned to a normal color, she walked over to the window. “It’s time to wake up Stiles. Tell Misery that I say hi.”

“What?”

She smirked at him and pushed him back onto his bed hard, his head hitting the headboard as he fell back into consciousness.


	13. Wish I Knew

Misery glanced into Stiles’ room, her cousin still asleep. Scott had joined him in unconsciousness. She smiled and rolled her eyes before heading downstairs to find Derek and Lydia in living room. Derek was pacing, his hand in his pockets and a sour expression on his face. Lydia was taking selfies on her phone and touching up her makeup.

“Misery.” The Sheriff called from the kitchen. She followed the voice to the kitchen table where he was sitting with a bottle of Jack.

“Hey Uncle.” Misery picked up the bottle and brought it to her lips. He just rolled his eyes. “Get any more of your memory back?”

“Some of it. I’m sorry, for the things I said in the past.”

“You didn’t remember. I didn’t take it personally. I’m sorry too.”

They sat there for awhile not saying anything to the other. “Didn’t you tell those two to leave?” She nodded out to the living room.

“Derek flat out refused to leave Stiles, and he’s apparently still pissed about something you said.” Misery smiled and rolled her eyes. “And Lydia wants to know why she showed up to Eichen House when no one died.”

“The witches that were there, died in the blast when I woke up Stiles’ magic. It was probably their death she sensed.”

The Sheriff nodded and took poured more whiskey in his glass. “I don’t get paid enough for this.”

She laughed and shook her head. “I don’t think this is about getting paid, Uncle.”

He groaned and downed the liquid in his glass. Then he stood up. “I’m going to bed: I have an early shift tomorrow. Don’t wake me up unless there’s a major issue.”

“Is Stiles waking up a major issue?”

“No.”

“What about witches breaking into the house or a werewolf breaking the TV?”

“Wake me up if the first happens. If the second happens, I hope it’s replaced before I get up for work.”

“Gotcha.”

“Night Misery.”

“Sleep tight Uncle.”

She got up then and moved to the sofa, sitting next to Lydia. “Has he been pacing like that since my Uncle tried to kick him out?”

The banshee shut her compact and tilted her head at the mage. “More or less.”

Derek glared at them. “How’d you know to call me Derbear?”

“I was raised by Vanessa Lucian.” Misery shrugged.

“Who’s Vanessa Lucian?” Lydia asked curiously.

“An alpha that is in charge of a network of packs all over the world.” Derek supplied.

“She was my mother’s familiar, and is Stiles’ and my godmother.” Then she glanced at the stairs. “Last time I talked to her, she mentioned recruiting the true alpha of Beacon Hills. She will be disappointed to know he’s just a dumb kid.”

Derek continued to glare at her and she just laughed.

“Meaning he has a lot to learn about himself and his own pack before she asks him to have that responsibility. Especially since I think he’s Stiles’ familiar.”

“They’ve been friends for years.”

“Cecil’s been following me around since I was three, I mean he couldn’t change into human form until after my magic woke up but still.”

“Scott was human for all those years though.”

“Scott was probably fated to become a werewolf. If not Peter Hale, then Derek, if not Derek, perhaps Deucalion. Maybe Vanessa. He’s a True Alpha. The pull of the familiar-mage bond is connected them in the first place.”

“Can we test it?” Lydia had her phone out again, though she looked like she was texting.

“Yeah, when Stiles wakes up and I explain to him why I had to stab him in the heart.” Misery sighed and sat back further on the couch. “I have no idea how to explain this all to him.”

Upstairs Scott was pulled into full consciousness as Stiles’ hand pulled away from his. He glanced up at his best friend who was sitting up, groaning in a very dramatic and over exaggerated fashion.

“Stiles.” The alpha breathed softly and gratefully. He sat back farther in the chair and stretched his arm across his chest.

The human glanced at the wolf with a grin. “Morning Scotty.”

Misery was in the doorway in the next few seconds, staring at her cousin. He looked over at her then noticed it wasn’t his face that she was staring at, but his chest. It was still covered in blood and his ripped shirt was hanging off him. His smile returned when he looked back up at her.

“So you stabbed me in the heart to save my life, weird tactic, don’t you think?”

Her eyes moved to his face, darting across the whole of it, before she gave him a smile. “You know, it was the best I could think of, under the circumstances.”

He nodded and she ran over and wrapped her arms around him tightly. “I should’ve told you everything when I got here.”

“What fun would have that been, huh?’

After that, Cecil herded Scott and Derek back downstairs and Misery forced Stiles to get a shower. Once he was in the shower, she went downstairs and went straight into the kitchen. She called for Lydia, who scoffed in offense to thinking she could cook. Derek came into the kitchen instead. Shrugging, she simply ordered him around the kitchen and left him to finish when Stiles came down the stairs.

He opened his mouth when he saw her. She shook her head. “We’re going to eat, then we’re going to talk briefly, then you’re going to help me put a protection spell on the house. Then I’m going the fuck to bed.”

Stiles nodded and glanced into the kitchen. He looked at Scott. “Did you know Derek could cook?”

Scott shook his head. Misery stared at Scott then ran upstairs. Stiles called after her. When she came back downstairs, she kicked the rug out from the center of the living room. Using a piece of chalk, she started drawing on the floor.

“Misery, what are you doing?”

“While we’re waiting for dinner, we’re going to find out if Scott’s your familiar.”

“My what?”

The werewolf just rolled his eyes, standing up and getting into the circle. “Just get into the circle with me.”

“Your faithful ‘animal’ companion and recharging station.” Cecil said from where he was sitting in the corner.

Stiles nodded as Misery raised her hands up and started reciting the spell. When she had finished talking, the lines on the floor were glowing.

“So, what does the glowing mean?” Stiles pointed at the floor as it faded.

“I now pronounce you mage and familiar.” Misery smirked as she shooed them over so she could fix the rug. “Every pair as a different _thing_ , and you two will figure it out. Cecil’s sort of my big brother.”

“I regret every minute of it.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “But, one thing you should never do is fuck your familiar.”

Scott gave his best friend a sideways glance. “I don’t think we have to worry about that, sorry dude.”

Stiles shrugged. “Your loss bro.” He then bumped his shoulder against Scott’s and moved into the kitchen. From the living room, the group heard Derek hit Stiles lightly and growl at him. And then again. A few minutes later, the wolf announced that food was ready.

“Okay, so Misery, while I was out…” Stiles said around a mouthful of food. “This is delicious by the way Derek.”

“Stop talking with your mouth full.” Derek rolled his eyes at him.

“Did you have a life changing vision?” Misery asked with an eyebrow raised at him.

“Sort of… I saw my mom…” Scott looked up at him, his eyes wide with shock. Misery just shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal.

“Well, what did she say?”

Stiles took a deep breath and explained his conversation with his mother.

“She’s not wrong. There was a prophecy about us, the part our grandfather had was incomplete and told us the information to identify us as the subjects of it and what it would take for us to actually fulfil the prophecy.”

“Okay? So have we fulfilled these things?”

“All but meeting our soulmates.” She picked up more food to put her mouth. “But, I have no idea how we’re going to figure out how we do that.”

“Wait. Soulmates are a thing?”

“For some people. But soulmates aren’t the end all be all of love, except for us apparently.”

Stiles glanced at Lydia. She pursued her lips at him then shook her head.

“It’s not Lydia. Banshees can’t have soul mates, which comes with being a member of the undead.”

“I’m the undead?” Lydia tilted her head at the other female.

“Technically. You’re less dead than say a vampire or a ghoul.”

The redhead nodded and went back to eating.

Stiles glared at Lydia before looking back at his cousin again. “How do we find out who are soulmates are?”

“Not really sure. I’ve been looking for something for a while.” She glanced at Scott. “I think Deaton would know, because he just happens to know everything.”

He sighed in annoyance and agreement before stuffing his mouth again. “What were the other things?”

“ _Stiles._ ”

“Misery.”

She looked down at her plate. “Familiar. We needed to be possessed. And… and our mothers had to die.”

Stiles dropped his fork and got up from the table. Derek and Scott both got up to follow him, but Misery motioned for them both to sit down. She got up herself and knocked on his door.

“Is that what she was talking about? Her dying, when she said she was selfish?”

“I doubt it. She was probably talking about the fact that we exist. She wanted kids, and she had one. The prophecy could’ve been avoided if we just weren’t here.”

He looked up at her and sighed, rubbing his face. “What is the prophecy even for?”

“It’s apparently not clear. Either, we’re going to rain hell-fire onto earth, or we’re going to stop something else from doing it.”

“What do you mean apparently?”

“Vanessa hasn’t read it. Your dad has, but I doubt he’ll get those memories back quickly or clearly.”

“What do you mean?”

She blinked at him a few times before glancing at the doorway. “You’re dad started remembering magic and shit when I stabbed you. Apparently it was a clause of the spell my mother used to erase them.”

“You don’t know much of anything, about what’s happening to us, do you?”

“Not really.” Misery chuckled nervously and absently rubbed her hands together. “But, with a little bit of training, you’re going to be a great mage, and then we’ll go from there.”

Stiles nodded and stood up, heading out the door to finish his dinner. Lydia had left by the time they got downstairs. After they finished eating, Misery made Derek leave despite his protests.

She stood infront of the front door while Scott and Stiles did the dishes, cracking her knuckles and her neck. Cecil made a snide comment from the couch about her getting arthrisis. Misery didn’t bother to give him a harsh glance before she was speaking in tongues, reaching her glowing hand towards the front door. Muttering under her breath, she walked around the house with her eyes barely open as she touched every window and the back door. When she finished, she went back the front door and turned the deadbolt. A wash of brightly and colorfully lit runes spread from the door over the floor and outside walls of the Stilinski home.

“Spectatular job as usual.” Cecil snorted as he stood and turned into his cat from mid stride. He headed into the kitchen as the two teenage boys came into the room with their eyes wide in wonder.

“What the _hell_ was that?” Stiles said, flexing his tattooed arm which had a fading glow just like Misery’s.

“Protection spell. No one is coming in this house unless you, Uncle, or I want them to.”

“So, you guys are safe from Orzo in here?” Scott looked relieved and Misery rolled her eyes.

“It’s not unbreakable. He could get in here if he bombarded the house with enough magic. But we’re relatively safe: it’s a strong spell.” She started going up the stairs. That’s when Scott left, and Stiles and Misery both went to bed.


	14. Five More Minutes

It was noon when the Sheriff walked into the house. There were four teenagers in his living room, but none of them belonged to him. Scott and the Yukimara girl both waved at him. Lydia and the Tate girl both just stared at him, with their heads tilted to the side.

“Misery and Stiles still sleeping?”

Cecil came out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee as Scott nodded. “Oh yeah. I _think_ they’re having a shared dream experience.”

Nodding, the Sheriff took the cup from the cat’s hands and downed it. “I’m going to wake them up.”

When he got upstairs, he glanced into Stiles’ room which was empty. He glanced at Misery’s door and saw it open. He also noticed Derek Hale leaning in the door frame. Pinching the bridge of his nose and walked up to the door. Hale turned to him.

“Hey Sheriff.”

He looked into the room and saw Isaac leaning in the corner, with his eyes locked on his sleeping niece. “Hey Derek. How about you take Mr. Lahey downstairs with the rest?”

The older wolf nodded before trying to get Isaac’s attention, saying his name three times before having to resort to growling at him. Isaac gave the Sheriff a shy wave on his way out, Derek just rolled his eyes and motioned for him to head downstairs first. Both wolves glanced into the room before actually moving though.

Rolling his eyes, the Sheriff walked into the room and sat on the edge on Stiles’ side of the bed. He looked at them closely. Their hands were linked tightly and both their tattoos had a faint blue/green glow to them. They both looked peaceful, even if they were both curled into odd positions and facing away from each other.

“Stiles?” He shook his son’s shoulder gently. Stiles curled up further, his face burying into his pillow farther. Stilinski then reached farther and shook Misery’s shoulder, saying her name. She sat up, the arm connected to her cousin twisting into what looked like a painful angle. She looked around and then laid back down.

Standing up, he rubbed his face. “Stiles! Misery!” He said it loudly.

Both of them looked up then, their hands leaving the other’s. “Huh?”

“It’s noon. You should get up, your friends are downstairs.”

When Misery stretched and Stiles fell out of bed, the sheriff nodded in satisfaction and went back downstairs. Cecil guarded his coffee carefully when he saw him come back into the living room.

The two cousins came down the stairs together, both of them yelling at each other through their yawns. They had gotten dressed which the sheriff was shocked and grateful for. Misery had even put her hair up in a messy bun.

“Will you stop asking me about it Stiles? Jesus, it’s just a brand, big deal.”

He stop and stared at her in disbelief, his arms making ambiguous motions. “Normal people don’t let other people brand their necks Misery.”

“Oh, am I normal?” She turned to him and leveled him with a glare. “I’m sorry, when did this happen?”

He just made an annoyed and defeated groan.

Smirking, she started back down the stairs.

“So, let me get this straight, you actually were a part of his coven?”

“I join a lot of covens, learn their magic specialty and then leave.” Giggling, she tilted her head to the side. “I was the head witchdoctor in a village in Botswana for a while.”

“Dad, can I go to Botswana?”

“Over my dead body.” The sheriff said with a sigh and Stiles pouted at him slightly. When he continued his level gaze, Stiles turned his attention to Scott. Stiles grinned at his best friend, and settled himself in the small space left in the arm chair. The alpha just glared at him, but moved so they could both fit.

Misery seated herself with the other two girls and glanced over at her uncle. “Remember any more?”

“I think it comes back better when I get reminded of something. The witch that we captured mentioned Orzo and I remembered meeting him when I was a kid.”

“You met him, as a kid?”

“He tried to get my parents to join his coven. I was the only reason he let them go with saying no.”

“So, who really is this Orzo guy, anyway?” Isaac asked from where was standing on the opposite side of the TV from his former alpha.

“He’s a necromancer. Back in the early 1800’s, he was a pediatrician. He got sick and tired of watching his patients die, so he sold his soul for the power to heal them. Eventually healing wasn’t enough, and he started bringing back the ones that magic couldn’t save.”

“He’s over 200 years old?”

“Could we live to be that old?”

“Let’s just stick to making it to 18, alright cos?” Misery shook her head and looked away from him.

Derek looked at the Sheriff then, “Last night you told me that if I killed Misery, Stiles would die too.”

The Sheriff nodded. “Yeah. It’s part of the prophecy. Before either of them were anything but human, if one died, then that one died. Now that they’re same, they’ll die together.”

“And what about when we were different? Like two days ago?” Stiles asked, blinking rapidly while he was trying to process the information.

“We were immortal. There was nothing of this universe that could kill us.” Misery said straight face. He gaped at her and she shrugged. “I’ve been shot in the head by enough hunters to know that for a fact.”

“Wait, so all those times over the last year when I was _terrified_ that I was going to _die_ , I had absolutely nothing to worry about?” Stiles was slightly hysterical. Misery nodded and he turned to his familiar. “See, you could’ve just bit me and then things would’ve turned out a lot differently.”

“Actually Stiles, had you become a werewolf, we’d be immortal forever. You and me, at the end of the world, sitting in the vast emptiness of the universe at the end of all time.” She cringed at the thought and Scott just gave Stiles a mocking nod.

“Okay, so that would’ve been a bad plan?”

“Terrible plan.”

The sheriff cleared his throat and everyone looked at him. “So what are you two doing about the last part of the prophecy?”

“The soulmate part, or the part where we don’t actually know what the prophecy is?” Misery and Stiles asked in unison.

“Let’s start with the soulmate part.”

“What do you know about that part, only person in the room who’s even seen grandfather’s translation?”

“They’re werewolves, and have superficially similar pasts.” He rested his face on his hand. “I assume you’ve looked into it?”

“I’ve casted spells, I’ve made potions. The most I’ve ever gotten was from a physic in Kansas during a very extreme palm reading.”

“What did she say?”

She shook her head. “I don’t remember. I have it written down in my journal.”

“Where’s your journal?”

Misery stood up and pulled out her phone. She held it up to her ear. “Hey Charlotte. Remember how you wanted to come visit me? _No…_ ” She moved into the kitchen then, her conversation hushing from the distance.

 “Where am I going to put two more teenagers?” The sheriff sighed as he stood up.

“There’s an extra apartment in my building.” Derek offered.

“How exactly are you going to convince your landlord to rent out a room to a blind and schizophrenic teenage girls an apartment?” Stiles snorted.

The werewolf smiled at him genuinely. “Easily, seeing as _I_ own the building.”

“Wait, what?” The five teenagers asked in unison.

Misery came back in and glanced at Stiles. “And Charlotte is 23, so she could be functioning adult if she put any effort into it.” She then looked at her uncle. “Why are our soulmates werewolves anyway?”

“The prophecy basically said that werewolves can usually tell. And because they’ll be the best at their purpose for the prophecy.”

“To heal our souls, right?”

The sheriff nodded. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go see if I can get into the old house and find the translation.”

The teenagers (and Derek) sat in silence for a while. Malia broke it. “What now?”

Misery glanced at her cousin. “Any one know a good tattoo artist?”

“Why?” Stiles asked, his eyes widen with nerves.

She just smirked. Scott stood up, and lifting up his sleeve to show his tat. Nodding, Misery was ushering Stiles to his Jeep.

While Stiles was getting his tattoo, which he decided to get on the shallow of his hip, he whimpered and held her hand tightly. She rolled her eyes and called him a little bitch. Scott sat on the other side and flipped through one of the artist’s books.

Once they were sitting in the Jeep, Stiles glared at her. “Tell me again what this is for?”

“Antipossession tattoo. Keeps unwanted guests out.” She tapped on the side of her head. He nodded slowly and glance back at Scott.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me about this a few months ago? Like seriously, you’d think Argent would have one or something.”

“Argent? Which Argent?” Misery glared at her cousin.

“Chris. I mean the rest of them are dead.”

“Gerard is in the hospital actually.” Scott interjected.

“Chris isn’t so bad. He’s never shot me in the head.”

When they get back to the house, Cecil and the Sheriff were at the kitchen table. He held out a beat up spiral bound notebook to Misery. She grabbed it. Cecil raised her eyebrows at her. “Shouldn’t you two take care of the Orzo problem before you go summoning Satan?”

“We’re not summoning _Satan_ , Cecil. Okay, that was someone else’s prophecy, and it already happened.”

“Satan, like literal Satan?” Stiles grabbed her shoulder and stared at her.

“They put him back where he came from.” She said in a little too much of a sarcastic tone for his liking, when they were talking about literal Satan. “And we’ll deal with Orzo. I can’t do anything with Stiles’ not knowing anything about magic.”

“Shouldn’t you have spent the day training him instead of sleeping, then?” The sheriff took a sip of his glass and looked away from them.

The two cousins shared a glance, but shrugged. “We’ll deal with it. I mean, how hard can it be to kill a two hundred year old man anyway?”

“Kill?” Scott asked, sounding like a kindergarten teacher scolding a student for using potty language.

Misery glanced at him. “Is there a problem?”

“Uh, yeah. We don’t kill people.”

“Now would be a good time to start, because you’re currently number one on his hit list.” The two boys stared at her and she huffed. “Orzo knows Stiles won’t go quietly while he has a pack here, so what should he do? Kill the pack. Where do you start if you want to make short work of a wolf pack? It’s alpha.”

“Scott’s Stiles’ familiar, he wouldn’t do that would he?” The Sheriff glanced at his niece.”

“He would. More than once he’s threatened to kill Cecil.”

“He actually did it once, except it wasn’t really me, it was some white cat we found at the pet store.”

Misery nodded. “Poor little thing.”

“We can’t just kill Orzo!”

“Maybe you can’t, but I can.” Misery shook her head and went upstairs.

Stiles sighed and sat down at the table. “Why can’t we just kill the old geezer?”

“Because Stiles!”

Cecil snorted. “Just like a true alpha.”

The Sheriff glanced at his son. “Do you know why Scott’s your familiar?”

“Because he’s my best friend?”

“Somewhat, but what’s more important is the color of a familiar’s eyes.” Cecil set his coffee cup down. “Your and Misery’s magic comes from the moon. Your familiar’s eyes reflect the eyes you would have if you were a werewolf.”

“I’d be an alpha?” Stiles nodded, looking entirely impressed at himself.

“Not a true alpha, probably, but you’d be an alpha for sure.” Cecil blinked at him a few times. “Misery’s a killer.”


	15. New and Old Friends

A lot of things happened at school. Jackson started school again, and received a slap from the banshee. Stiles got one too after the former kanima mentioned that he knew he was back in town. Also, apparently Misery and Ethan knew each other. The former alpha was waiting for the mage to take his head in revenge of her and Aiden killing her best friend, but she didn't because of what they did for her cousin. She did warn him to stay away from Claire when she arrived in Beacon Hills later that day.

Though the strangest, and worst thing that happened were the small balls of flaming rock that flew through the windows during history. Kira rushed for her dad, knocking him to the ground and shielding him. Ethan stood in front of Danny. Isaac jumped across the room and shielded Misery, who glared at him slightly as she raised a glowing hand. The average humans in the room all fell unconscious and a shimmering shield replaced the windows, all extra fireballs turning to ash as they fell through. There was a thud and then a pulse of energy coming from the room next door. Misery pulled out of the wolf’s grasp as she ran to the next class. Stiles was standing in the center of his classroom, Scott kneeling at his side, looking up at him. His arm had the fading afterglow of spell work as he looked back at her. She stared at him as his eyes closed and fell back unconscious.

Scott caught him before his head hit the floor. Jackson, along with the rest of the class, looked baffled. Misery rolled her eyes and made the humans in that room go to sleep too before walking over to the window. There was a cloaked figure standing at the edge of the parking lot, looking up at her.

“What did he do?” Jackson asked in a surly voice.

“Used a spell that if I’m…” Misery picked up one of the rocks and threw it out of the shattered window. The cloak fell on top of a pile of ash. “A spell that turned the threat to ash.”

“Ash?” Scott looked down at his best friend, who looked to be peacefully sleeping. “He killed them?”

“I think it was reflexive, knowing he could probably do something and he sort of just…” She shrugged as she waved her hand over the window, the pieces of glass going back together. “Magic is half concentrated wishing, and if you’re not sure what your wishing for, then…”

Isaac came in then, standing at the doorway. “The Principal’s currently talking to Mr. Yukimara, and I’m pretty sure he called the cops… why is Stiles unconscious?”

“Because he’s a fucking moron.” Jackson replied. Misery glanced at him and shrugged, not able to disagree.

“We should probably get back to our classroom.” Isaac stared at Misery, and she nodded, glancing at her cousin before heading to the other room.

The conscious supernatural teenagers stood in the hall, under the scrutiny of the principal until the Sheriff walked down the hall. He glanced at Misery and Scott, both of who grimaced and looked away from him, before talking to the principal.

“So, what happened to Stiles?” The sheriff sighed when he walked over to the group.

“Used a spell he didn't know how to use.” Misery replied, her gaze flitting to where Stiles was just inside one of the classrooms with the students that were waking up.

“And what happened to everyone else?”

Scott and Kira both pointed at Misery. She glared at the couple. “I was under the impression that the supernatural was a secret.”

With an annoyed grunt, the Sheriff walked back over to the principal, informing him that he was taking the two that belonged to him home for the day. Isaac snorted. “You think the rest of us are going to get to go home?”

The unconscious Stiles rode in the cruiser with the Sheriff and Misery got to drive the Jeep home. When they both pulled into the driveway, they saw the Camaro in front of the curb and Misery jumped out of the Jeep immediately when she noticed the front door is open.

As the Sheriff got out of the cruiser she glared at him for not locking the door. Derek was on their kitchen floor, in a pool of black blood. Misery pulled an object out of his hand and looked it over. “Hey, Derek, cough if you’re dead.”

The wolf turned over enough to glare at her with glowing blue eyes. She smiled and threw the thing in the sink before snapping her fingers and starting a fire in its confines. “I thought it was funny.”

Once the fire died, Derek rolled over and sat up. He put his hand on the cut healing on his chest. The Sheriff came in then. “What happened to you?”

“Someone attacked me in my loft. I found that ring…”

“It was cursed, keeping you from healing.”

Derek nodded at Misery’s injection and got up. “I figured you’d know what to do with it.”

“Was it the witches that attacked you?”

“No…” Derek scratched the back of his head. “I didn’t really see who it was.”

“I’m not a werewolf but I know that’s a lie, Derek.” Misery crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows at the older male.

He opened his mouth when Stiles groaned from the living room. Misery and the Sheriff both glanced back. “Wow… how’d I get home? Why does it feel like I just ran a marathon?”

Misery sighed and went out to the living room, telling her cousin that he was an idiot and explaining to him why.

The Sheriff returned his attention to Hale. “Who was it son?”

“I think it was Kate.”

There was a thud from the living room as Stiles fell off the couch, and he was ordering Misery to help him into the kitchen. “Kate, like Kate Argent? She’s dead, Derek.”

“Who better to hunt down werewolves than a werewolf hunter?” Misery sighed and glanced at her uncle. “Necromancers are the worst.”

“So, Kate Argent is back from the dead?”

“And under the control of someone even crazier than she was in life.”

Derek just stood there, staring into space, his chest heaving in small and shallow pants. Stiles groaned when he looked at him. “Shit, he’s having a panic attack.”

Misery let him more or less fall into Derek before taking her Uncle back into the living room. “Shouldn’t you be getting back to work?”

“Shouldn’t you be getting your friends from the airport?”

Both of them nodded and headed out of the house.

Stiles was saying Derek’s name softly, trying not to be in the wolf’s space too much since he really wasn’t up for standing on his own. The wolf focused on him slightly, but his breathing was still shallow.

“Hey buddy. It’s okay, because I’m not going to let her hurt you again, okay?” Stiles said it slowly.

Derek just kept staring at him.

“I’m going to call Scott right now, and tell him so him and the rest of the pack and steer clear of her, alright?”

Nodding slightly, the wolf kept his eyes on him as Stiles left a voicemail on his best friend’s cell. When Stiles looked back at Derek, he still saw the panic in his eyes.

“W-What about you?”

“Kate’s not going to kill me, Orzo wants me in his group so she won’t kill me.”

Derek took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay… okay Stiles…”

Stiles stared at him until his breathing returned to normal. Then Derek gave him a strange look. “Shouldn’t you be in school?”

“The witches hurled flaming rocks at the school, and I over used my magic.” He explained with a grin, and he knew he should not have been grinning.

“Is everyone else okay?” Derek glared at him.

“Oh, yeah, I think so; I didn’t really ask Misery before she left…” He glanced behind him and shrugged. “I think she would’ve said something if they weren’t.”

Derek gave him an exasperated sighed before maneuvering them so he was leading the teenager to the living room. Once Stiles was on the couch, Derek headed toward the door.

“Dude, you’re not leaving.”

Glancing at the teen, Derek sighed again. “Why not?”

“Because there’s a crazy undead werewolf hunter waiting for you at your apartment probably.” Stiles threw his hands around wildly.

“Then where am I supposed to go? Aren’t Misery’s friends supposed to be moving into my building?”

Stiles snorted and crossed his arm. “Kate doesn’t even know who they are.”

“But Orzo might.”

“Just sit down and stop brooding.” The wolf opened his mouth to protest, but Stiles just stared at him, and he caved and sat next to the teen. Stiles grinned at him and turned on the TV.

When Misery walked into the door, she looked like she had been completely drained. The two girls that followed her in, Derek understood. The first one to follow her in, ran into the door and held her now bleeding nose. She was tall, probably at least as tall as he was, and was dark skinned. Her hair was braided into a bunch of tiny braids, pulled back into a ponytail.

“You could’ve warned me you were shutting the door Misery.”

Misery just rubbed her temples and glanced at the two males on the couch.

The girl that came in after her, was short and plump. She looked to be 12 or 13, and had short black hair and sharp green eyes. “Well maybe if you weren’t blind Charlotte.”

Charlotte looked livid as she spun, looking almost in the younger girl’s direction. Misery stepped between them. “Charlotte, you’re an adult, act like one. Claire, that was insensitive, _apologize_.”

Claire sighed and crossed her arms. “I’m sorry Charlotte.”

Stiles chuckled and stood up, walking over to his cousin. “So these are your friends huh?”

Misery nodded. “They’re more like my wards most days.”

“You definitely have the ‘kindergarten teacher on a field trip’ voice down.” He clamped her shoulder before looking at the two girls. “Hey, I’m Stiles, Misery’s cousin.”

Charlotte turned and stared in his general direction. “It’s good to finally meet you. Misery talks about you, a lot.”

Claire jumped over and held out her hand. “I’m Claire.”

He took it and shook it. The girl giggle and hid behind the older female. Misery glanced at him. He glanced back, his eyebrows raising slightly. Derek got up then and walked over to Charlotte. “Hi, I’m Derek Hale.”

“Misery said you have an apartment for us?” Claire said, staring at him with wide eyes. “And that you’re a werewolf.”

Derek nodded and smiled down at her. “Is that okay?”

“As long as you’re not like other werewolves…”

Charlotte was staring at him, almost like she could see him. Misery sighed and nodded upstairs. “Claire, why don’t you go upstairs and let the grownups talk, alright?”

Claire sighed and rolled her eyes, stomping upstairs. Misery called which room was hers and the girl called back a “whatever”.

“She’s thirteen.” Misery smiled and glanced at Derek. “Werewolves haven’t been a very… Aiden killed her sister in front of her. Even when she’s lucid, they’re a sore spot.”

Derek nodded, and looked at Charlotte. “Is there a reason she’s staring at me?”

“She’s an oracle. Technically she’s my and Stiles’ oracle, sent by the _Gods_ to assist us and document our travels.”

“I’ve had many visions about you, Derek. The death of your first love, the tragic death of your family.”

Misery glanced at her before looking at the wolf. Stiles was staring at him too. Derek glanced between the two of them. “What?”

Both of them looked away and denied it. Charlotte smiled. “Sorry, sometimes I get a little cryptic when talking about my visions.” She rubbed one of her eyes. “By the way Misery, have you started teaching him magic yet?”

“We’ve been busy.” Misery grimaced. Nodding, the older woman rummaged in her purse and pulled out a book bound in leather with jagged edges of pages sticking out. The mage took it and unclasped it. “Thanks, this will help.”

“I’m going to go check on Claire.” Charlotte headed towards the kitchen. Misery reached towards him as Cecil jumped off the couch into his human form, leading her upstairs.

“That your journal, the one with the description of your soulmate?” Stiles stared at the book. Misery nodded, flipping through the pages.

“But we should worry about it later.” She hit him with it. “Get to the back yard, we’re going to do some magic.”


	16. Plan B

Misery would show him a spell, then she would sit on the broken glider and glare at him as he did things terribly wrong. Derek stood next to him, encouraging him with silent judgmental eyebrow maneuvers.

Kira, Isaac, and Scott come by after school, only finding their way outside because of Stiles’ apologies after throwing a ball of pure energy at Derek’s face. The wolf rubbed at his healing face as he glared at Misery, who was laughing her ass off.

“You teaching him magic?” Kira asked as she sat next to Misery.

“The basics, a few easy defensive spells and offensive spells. He’s quite terrible.”

Scott walked over to the two males standing in the grass. Isaac leaned against the frame of the glider. “Well, that much was obvious.”

Misery glanced up at him and rolled her eyes before looking out at the grass. “How about you try to make your own this time, instead of using mine?”

Stiles glared at her but stood up, grasping his hands together and pulling them apart as his tattoo glowed. Scott placed his hand on his best friend’s back and the tattoo glowed brighter as a light formed between his hands and grew as he moved his hands.

He smiled and looked at his cousin who nodded and stood up. “You can throw it, but can you aim it?” She held out her own hands.

“What if I hurt you?”

“Then I’ll kick your ass. I can catch it, I’ve had practice.”

Stiles nodded and turned towards his cousin as he took one hand away from the ball of light. He threw it towards her, but it curved and went straight for Isaac. The wolf fell back from the impact. Misery groaned and bent down next to him, looking at the scorch marks on his shirt and chest.

“You okay Isaac?” Misery asked him, giving him an apologetic grimace. Isaac gave her a thumbs up as he groaned. She chuckled and glanced over her shoulder. “He’ll be fine.”

The wolf sat up and looked down at his shirt. “I’ve had worse.”

“That’s terrifying. Energy blasts are pretty much the worst.”

Isaac smirked at her and held up a hand for her to help him up. She smiled back and pulled him onto his feet.

“That’s the second werewolf I almost killed today, can we stop?” Stiles asked with a grimace.

“I think we’ll go until you actually kill one.” He gaped at her and she chuckled. “We’ll go back to defense, that why it’s only your and my lives on the line.”

Misery walked over to him and cracked her knuckles. “Do you remember the shield spell?” When he nodded, Derek and Scott both took a few steps away from him. “Don’t move. I want to you extend it to your wolves here.”

“What spell are you using?” Derek glared at her.

“It’s a paint spell. If Stiles fails, you’ll both be partially pastel for the next few hours.”

Kira and Isaac both chuckled from where they were sitting. Misery glanced over at them and sent a small pillar of light towards the kitsune’s head, her hair slowly turning a pale peach color. The Kistune held up a piece of her hair, and looked delighted.

The two werewolves shared a glance before looking at the fresh mage standing between them. Misery looked back at her cousin. “You ready?”

Before he could even say “no” she was throwing streams of blue and yellow and pink at the three males. Stiles squealed as he put up his arms, the tattoo glowing a shimmering purple as a wall of light blocked Misery’s rays.

She looked at him, impressed. “Now, try to keep it up for a long time.” The light was more constant coming from her, more of them at once. Stiles let the shield flicker into a smaller range slightly, changing Derek’s leather jacket to a mint green, before Scott reached for him again. The shield grew around them into a dome and Misery smiled.

“Now, try to throw a spell at me while holding up the shield.”

Stiles glanced back at Scott, who nodded. He sighed and flexed his hand, forming the ball of light in his hand. When he threw it, it bounced back off the shield, and around the bubble. Misery ran over to them as the wolves ducked out of its way. The ball hit Stiles in the head, knocking him unconscious for the second time that day. As Derek caught him, the shield fell.

“That worked well.” Scott glared at Misery, and she glared back at him.

“Like you didn’t make mistakes learning how to control your shift, _Alpha McCall._ ” Misery said the title mockingly. “I’ve been dealing with the supernatural my _entire_ life, and you’ve only been in this game for a year.”

“You’ve been running you-…”

“Scott, Misery.” Derek barked at the two of them. Both teens looked at him and then gave each other one last glare, before looking down at Stiles’ face, twisted in pain. Misery looked at the opened wound on her cousin’s forehead and reached towards it, a white light covering her entire hand. Once the light touched Stiles, the wound receded and healed over.

“Healing is something I’ve never been good at…” She pulled her hand away as Stiles opened his eyes.

He reached up to his head and winced. “Well, it’s better than bleeding to death in my back yard.”

“When your dad asks, Derek did it.”

Stiles nodded at her seriously. The wolf grumbled something and pulled Stiles to his feet before going into the house. The teen groaned and followed the older male into the house. Scott glared at her before following the other two, and Kira followed him in.

Isaac stood up and walked over to her. “You think you could help with this?” He motioned at his chest, which was mostly healed.

“Healing magic doesn’t work on wolves, I’m afraid.” She smiled at him and patted his shoulder. “Sorry.”

He took her wrist and made her look at her. “Hey, about the other day…”

“You mean our ruined _date_?”

“I think we should try again.”

“Isaac…” She sighed and covered her face. “I’m flattered, but right now isn’t really the time.”

“I understand Misery, you have to deal with the witches…”

“You don’t. I have a soul mate, and I don’t think it’s you and if I was anyone else, I’d say fuck it… but I _need_ my soulmate. I’m sorry Isaac.” She pulled out of his grip and went into the house.

Isaac followed her but out the front door. Scott glared at Misery when she came in and she just rolled her eyes at him. “What did you guys come over for?”

“To check on Stiles mostly, and because you guys think Kate Argent is back from the dead.” Kira replied since Scott was too busy glaring.

“Scott told you about her, before you came over.” Stiles was glaring at his best friend for glaring at his cousin.

The kistune nodded, very pointedly not looking at Derek. “She was Allison’s aunt, and she was apparently very dangerous.”

“Orzo’s using her to hunt down the pack, so Stiles and I won’t have anything holding us here. He really wants us in his coven.”

“We could just go with him.” Stiles turned his attention to his cousin, and everyone stared at him.

“No way.” Both wolves said immediately.

“How about we keep that as plan b, alright?” Misery patted his cheek and glanced at Scott. “How are you feeling about just killing Orzo?”

“Still not sold it’s the best option.”

“Then how do you suggest we do it? You want him out of town, and your pack not to get any more broken than it already is.”

“We could talk to him.”

“How did talking to Deucalion, or the Nogistune work for you?” Scott just glared at her in reply. “Scott, listen, Orzo is two hundred years old, and he didn’t get that way by being talked out of things by underage werewolves.”

Stiles sighed and glanced at his cousin. “And what if we leave town?”

“I’m not running away again Stiles. We stand our ground.”

“But do we really have to kill them?”

“No, not them. _Him_. If we kill Orzo the rest will likely see how futile it is. Half of his coven is there against their wills.” She glanced at Scott. “Those that are truly loyal, will likely be too scared to fight someone that can kill Orzo.”

“And if they’re not?”

“Then we fight them until they say Uncle.”

Scott sighed and sat back, crossing his arms. “I don’t like it.”

“But it’s that or Stiles’ plan B.”

“So, how are we doing this?” Kira leaned forward towards the other girl.

“Stiles and I keep trying to make him a master mage, and Derek, you think you can whip these pups into shape?”

The older wolf glanced at Scott. “Maybe with the help of their alpha. The pack needs help with their team work anyway.”

Scott sighed and nodded. Misery stood up then and went upstairs. Claire and Charlotte followed her down. “I think it’s time everyone gets home. I’ll put a protection spell on your apartment, if you’d like Derek.”

Scott took Kira home, but not before telling Stiles that he wasn’t sure whether or not he liked Misery. Stiles just shrugged and told him that he didn’t have to. Stiles drove Misery and her two friends over to Derek’s building, _Derek’s building_ , as in he owned it, and helped them take their things up to their new apartment. Misery followed Derek to his and put a spell on his apartment.

Stiles sat around talking to Derek once he had all of the girls’ stuff in their room while Misery finished the spell. Derek listened to him with an almost smile on his face, while Stiles talked about nothing of importance.

“So, you know how Dad said that werewolves can tell who their soulmates are.” Stiles turned to Derek as Misery was coming down the stairs with her eyes closed and murmuring.

Derek’s eyes went wide and he looked away.

“Do you know who yours is?”

“I really don’t trust that instinct anymore.” Derek sighed. “I thought Kate was my soulmate, and I was definitely wrong.”

“A Heart Replacement charm.” Misery said as runes covered the walls and floor. “Some serious dark love potion. It doesn’t require any magic skill, just the recipe.”

They both looked at her, then Derek looked at Stiles with a fearful glance. Misery shrugged. “Whatever feeling you have now is probably genuine… But I think I just had the best idea for figuring out Stiles’ and my soulmates definitively…”

Stiles’ eyes went wide and he stood up and walked over to her. “What is it?”

“I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before!” She hit her forehead and laughed nervously. “There’s a standard love potion that when drank, makes the person you love, love you back, but if you break the vial, it shows you your soulmate.”

“How do we do it?”

“It takes a week to brew.” Misery sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. “And I’ve never made a love potion before. I usually brew concealment draughts and poisons.”

“Well, so a week from now we can know who are soulmates are?”

Misery nodded and glanced at Derek, who tore his eyes away from Stiles and headed up the stairs. She took that as the queue for them to leave, and pulled Stiles down to the Jeep. Once inside, she hit him gently. “You like him, don’t you?”

He glanced at her and his face turned red. “It doesn’t matter, right? We have soulmates.”

“I think he likes you too, and he’s terrified to admit it.”

“Isaac likes you, and what are you doing about that?” Stiles glanced at her quickly before looking back at the road.

“Isaac doesn’t know me, Stiles. And I don’t know anything about him.” Misery looked out the window and snorted. “Besides, we have soulmates.” He glared at her and kept driving without a word.


	17. Backwoods Bootcamp

“So, please tell me how exactly you’re convincing Jackson and Ethan to show up to your training session?” Stiles glanced at her as they walked out of school.

She winked at him and skipped to where the Jeep was parked. He sighed. “You didn’t bewitch them, did you?”

“Them, no.” Once they were both in the Jeep she smiled at him. “Their vehicles, maybe.”

He stared at her, before giving her an impressed grin. “You evil genius.”

“I’m not in high demand just because of my good looks.”

When they pulled up infront of the pitiful remains of the Hale house, Derek was leaning against the Camaro, holding the bridge of his nose. Charlotte and Claire were also with him. Misery smiled as she got out the Jeep and strutted over to him. He glared at her and glanced at Stiles who Claire had immediately attached herself to.

Scott pulled up on his bike a few minutes later. Lydia let Kira, Malia, and Isaac out of her car. The redhead twirled her hair as she complained about being there. Ethan and Jackson both showed up later. The former kanima kicking his tires while the former alpha leveled a glare at Misery.

The alpha walked over to Misery. “We’re training in the middle of the day?”

“Some of us don’t have night vision, Scott.”

He huffed. “Okay, fine, but what makes you think you can train them?”

She smiled at him and cupped his cheek. “I find your lack of faith disturbing.”

Stiles smiled at her and Derek groaned. “I find the fact that there’s two of you that feel the need to relate everything to Star Wars.”

Scott glanced at the older wolf and rolled his eyes. Derek raised an eyebrow at him. Stiles groaned. “Seriously dude, _Derek’s_ seen Star Wars and you haven’t? Derek doesn’t have a _TV_.”

“Lazy pack alphas pay Misery thousands of dollars to train their betas.” Charlotte smirked as she leaned on the hood of Derek’s car. “ _I_ lived with Kitsunes while Misery was learning magic from ancient Japanese demons. Claire’s big sister, you know the dead one, was a banshee. I think between the three of us, we’re quiet qualified to whip you kids into shape.”

Misery glared at her. “Thanks Char, for that.”

Kira walked over then. “Wait, so you know about Kitsunes?”

Charlotte nodded. “I was dating an Ocean Kistune for a while, but his mother was quite upset about the prospects of him marrying an _American_. She gave me a couple of Oni and told me to get out of her house.”

Stiles jumped at the mention of Oni and both Misery and Derek grabbed his arm. He glanced at both of them, shrugging off his cousin.

“Anyway, how many wolves do we have?” She looked at the group. “Counting Malia, five. Then with Kira, Lydia, Stiles and myself, that’s nine. Mkay, first we’re doing trust excises. Everyone pair up with someone they don’t trust.”

Scott immediately walked to Misery. Derek and Malia walked towards each other. Isaac and Ethan both walked towards Jackson, forming a circle of distrust. Kira, Lydia, and Stiles all stood around, looking at everyone else. Misery nodded and looked at the three of them. “You three trust everyone else in the pack?”

“Trust? Yes.” Lydia stared at her wide eyed.

Nodding again, she smiled. “Good, you three are good pack members. Well done.” She looked at where Derek and Malia were glaring at each other. “Malia, why don’t you trust Derek?”

The girl looked at her then at Derek. “I don’t really trust anyone, but I don’t trust Derek because he doesn’t trust me. He’s a weak member of the pack and in the wild, we’d leave him.”

Misery blinked at him and then glanced at Stiles. Scott grimaced at her. “We found her living in the woods, in full shift.”

“Coyotes aren’t famous for being pack animals.” Misery shrugged. “Fair enough Malia. I assume Derek, this mentality is why you don’t trust her?”

The wolf nodded, glaring at the coyote.

“It’s progress, we’re working on getting her to being a functioning member of society.” Stiles scratched his head as he stared at his cousin.

“You’re doing a wonderful job.” Charlotte chuckled.

“Your interjections aren’t needed Charlotte.” She turned to the group of boys standing by Jackson’s Porsche. “Ethan, why don’t you trust these two?”

“I don’t know this wolf, and Isaac doesn’t trust me.”

“You killed my packmates.” Isaac growled at Ethan. Jackson put his hand on his shoulder and held him back. Isaac turned his growled to Jackson, who moved his hands off the other wolf. He then stormed off into the depths of the forest.

Derek and Scott both moved to go after him, but Stiles held them both back and stared at his cousin. Misery swore and followed after Isaac. While Misery was leaving, Charlotte threw something in the general direction of Scott and Derek. Claire chuckled as Derek picked up what looked like a laminated instruction manual. “Next time Charlotte, let me throw things.”

“Shut up. Banshee, Kistune, with me. Stiles, throw some energy blasts at a tree.”

Isaac was sitting at the base of a tree, rocking back and forth in fetal position. Misery bent down in front of him. “Stiles wouldn’t let Derek or Scott run after you, because he’s under the impression that you like me.”

He looked up at her and then looked away.

“You don’t know me, Isaac. And I don’t know you.”

“And you have a soulmate.” Isaac pushed away the hand that she had reached towards her. “Why are you so sure that I’m not your’s, anyway?”

Instead of doing as instructed, Stiles was sitting on the hood of the Camaro with Misery’s journal. Scott walked over. “Aren’t you supposed to be practicing your magic?”

“I’m trying to find out what her and my soulmates are like. She said it’s written in her journal, and Dad said that her and mine are the same, in the way a physic palm reader would describe them.” Stiles looked up at him. “Aren’t you supposed to be training your pack?”

“Derek’s got it. I’m apparently not tough enough on them.”

“Found it…” Stiles look of triumph faded as his eyes moved to read the sloppily written words. “If this doesn’t describe Isaac, I don’t know what does.”

Scott took the book and read. “An orphan, having lost friends and family. Abused by one believed to have loved him. His first love, dead at the hands of the supernatural.” When he looked up, Stiles was staring at Derek. “Isaac not the only one this describes, huh?”

Stiles looked back at his best friend and shook his head. “Misery has a way to know for sure.” He set the book down as Derek called for Scott. “You should go, _Alpha_.”

As Stiles was ducking from an engery ball bouncing back at him from the tree, Misery and Isaac came back out of the forest. She bumped his shoulder and nodded over the other werewolves, laying on the ground and being yelled at by Derek. He frowned at her and she just looked at him sternly. Once he was walking over to the canine members of his pack, Misery walked over to her cousin.

“You read my journal. Hasn’t any one ever told you not read a lady’s journal?”

He glanced at her. “You mean the journal that details in great detail how to slay a dragon?”

She just shrugged and threw an energy bolt at him without warning. He caught it just before it hit him, slowly making the ball disappear. “You know, it describes him.”

“What describes who?”

“You know.” Stiles glared at his cousin.

“Fine. I’ll start brewing the potion when we get home.”

After Derek declares the wolves too tired to do anything else, and Kira and Lydia declare Charlotte a terrible teacher an hour later, Misery calls training for the day a wrap.

When her and Stiles returned home, there was an old, rusty, purple muscle car sitting at the street. Misery’s face lit up. “There’s my girl.”

He glanced at her. “That death trap is yours?”

“It, for your information, is a ’72 Dodge Dart Demon.” She got out of the Jeep and walked over to it. He rolled his eyes and followed her over to where she was standing at the trunk. She opened it, after sliding a key out of her journal, and it was loaded with various herbs, miniature books, and guns. “Yep, my beautiful girl.”

He was staring at her when she closed the lid. She just grinned at him. “Uncle must’ve been home to sign for her.”

The sheriff looked at them when they came in. They were both covered in dirt from when Misery had Scott test he reflexes against a werewolf. Stiles tackled her to the ground in retaliation and triggered a large tackling battle, which Lydia had to claw open Ethan’s face with her well-manicured nails to end.

He shook his head. “I see your still driving that thing, Misery.”

“She still runs like a dream still, I don’t see why I shouldn’t drive her.”

“How’d training go?”

“How does it look like it went?” Misery motioned at the pair of them. When the sheriff just blinked at her, she sighed. “We’re making progress. The pack is in it for their selves too much to be a team.”

“Alright, Stiles and I are going to brew some potions in the kitchen.” She grabbed her cousin’s arm and pulled him into the other room.

“Are all the ingredients legal?”

“More legal than most of the guns in the trunk of my car.”

After they get the potion brewing on the stove, Stiles only cut himself twice, and Misery might have given herself a serious burn on her forearm, the sheriff came into the kitchen. “How long does that have to be on the stove?”

“A week?”

Nodding slightly, he walked over and lifted the lid. “A love potion?”

“I’ve heard that throwing a vial of it will show one one’s soulmate.” Misery raised her eyebrows at him. “Have you ever brewed a love potion before, Uncle?”

“Your mother used to sell them while she was in high school, until Vanessa accidently drank one and her English teacher was following her around.”


	18. Ready or Not

****

Misery doesn’t join them the next two days for training, but insists that they do train. Kate, Orzo, and his coven were coming at any time, and they all needed to be ready. Stiles wants to go with her, when she says that she’s going to Claire and Charlotte’s apartment to chase down any information they can about the rest of the prophecy.

She calls though, as he’s getting in his Jeep to go home, with his bloody nose from Jackson punching him in the face.

“I need you to get to where am I, right now.” Misery said, frantically trying to tell him her location.

“Are you okay?”

“ _I’m_ fine. But I sort of hit someone with my car on the way back from Charlotte’s.”

Stiles quickly started the Jeep. “Did you call Dad, are they okay?

“They were already dead, Stiles. She was just standing in the middle of the road, tugging at her hair.”

“She? Already dead?”

“Kate wasn’t the only Argent he brought back to kill werewolves.”

He broke traffic laws to get to Misery. When he got out of the Jeep, Misery nodded for him to get in the passenger seat of the dart. He could see a figure moving in the backseat.

When he got in, he looked in the back to see Allison staring at him. Her skin was greyed and there was worm in her wild hair, but she looked like Allison. She gave him a small smile, though there was pain in her eyes that didn’t look like her own.

Stiles then looked at his cousin. “What are we going to do with her?”

“I don’t know?” She stared out the windshield and gripped the steering wheel tighter. “She’s under his control, and she was supposed to be on her way to slit Derek’s throat.”

He looked back at the undead girl. “Hi Allison.”

“Hi Stiles.” She leaned forward, towards him. “I’m glad they saved you, that I didn’t die for nothing.”

“Me too.”

“How are Scott… and Isaac, and my Dad?”

“Fine. They’re all fine.”

Misery glanced at Allison in the mirror and groaned. “We _should_ send her back.”

“Back where?” Stiles looked at her with a disgusted glare, knowing where his cousin meant.

“I want to go back.” Allison whispered. “It hurts.”

“I can’t just let you die, Allison.” Stiles scoffed, crossing his arms.

“She’s already dead, Stiles.”

“I want to help before I go back. I want to help.”

Stiles looked at Misery, who sighed. “Is there a way we can get her out of his control?”

Glaring at him, she nodded. “A very complicated spell, but I don’t raise the dead anymore Stiles.”

“Please, let me help. I don’t want to hurt the pack.” Allison pleaded from the back seat.

Stiles looked at his cousin, staring at her blankly. She glared at him. “And how exactly do you expect Scott and Chris to let me put her back in the grave when we’re down? The dead should stay dead Stiles.”

He just kept staring at her, and she eventually groaned as she set her forehead on the steering wheel. “Call Lydia. We’ll do the ritual at her house.”

“Lydia’s? Why Lydia’s?”

“Because Orzo is a superstitious nut job, and he believes that killing a banshee brings bad luck.”

When the three waited on the porch of Lydia’s house, they all stood nervously. Allison itching to fufill her orders so she could go back to peace, Stiles trying to figure out how to explain this to Allison’s best friend, and Misery trying to get around doing necromancy. When Lydia opened the door it was quick and pointed, as she mentioned how lucky they were that her mother was out of town. Once they were all inside, the banshee looked at the girl wearing the hood and screamed.

Stiles and Misery both plugged their ears as Allison approached Lydia with a limp smile. After the banshee stopped giggling hysterically and hugging the undead girl, Misery asked Lydia to show them to the back yard.

Lydia and Allison sat and talked while Misery set up the ritual, Stiles running around and getting her the things she needed, mostly out of the trunk of her car. While watching her, he decided the ritual was complicated and was amazed she remembered the details.

Once she had finished preparing, she wrapped the hand she had used to get the blood she needed. Stiles stood next to her. “You okay?”

“Not really.” She replied in a shaky voice before ordering Allison to sit in the middle of the circle she had made with salt and mountainash.

When Misery stared speaking in a dark tongue, Stiles took a step back, towards Lydia. Lydia was staring at Misery, her eyes wide and her mouth half open. A purple-black mist fell from Misery’s tattoos as the lines glowed an eerie pale yellow as they moved around Allison. The undead girl grunted, holding her chest as Misery kept speaking, her voice getting lower and farther away as she spoke.

He understood why she didn’t like doing this. Watching her cast the spell, he felt like he was watching a piece of her break off slowly. The spell was hurting her, and a lot by the way her arms were shaking as tears rolled down her cheeks.

When the glow faded from the lines and Allison stopped writhing on Lydia’s lawn, Misery gasped and fell to her knees. Stiles ran to his cousin while Lydia ran to Allison.

She reached towards him as she took deep breaths. “It’d been so long, I forgot how hard that was.” Her voice was raw and squeaky, from over use and distortion.

“I’m sorry.”

Looking at him, she huffed. “She _can_ help.”

Allison pushed Lydia away and walked towards where Misery and Stiles were sitting on the grass. Her eyes were glowing the pale yellow of the circle. “Orders, master.”

Cringing, Misery looked up at Allison, who looked even more like Allison than in the car. “Allison Argent, for now you will do as you would normally under the threat of harm to your pack.”

Her eyes stopped glowing and she gave the two cousins a cheeky grin. “Guess I’m going to need a bow, huh?”

Stiles smiled back at her as Misery slumped into his shoulder unconscious. She woke up not long after Stiles moved her to one of the decadent sofas and Lydia and Stiles figured out to do with Allison.

“Did I really let you talk me into doing necromancy?” She called from the living room. He sighed with guilt.

He had to help her into the house. His dad wasn’t home, but Scott was sitting on the couch with Cecil, talking. The wolf looked at them, with confusion.

“Why do you guys smell like grave dirt and… and…” Scott stood up and walked towards them.

Cecil just covered his face. “Misery, you didn’t…”

Misery grimaced and looked up at the werewolf looking absolutely heartbroken in front of her. “Orzo brought her back to kill you, just like he did Kate, Scott.”

Scott’s face steeled up slightly as a tear rolled down his cheek. Cecil stood up and touched Misery’s cheek. She groaned as her tattoo glowed and she moved to stand indepently from Stiles. “And?”

“And I transferred her loyalties, because she begged me to let her help.” She gave Scott an understanding look. “When this is over, she’s going back in her grave.”

Scott glared at her and she rolled her eyes at him. “I’m too tired to argue right now. We’ll discuss this tomorrow.”

Cecil helped her up the stairs. Stiles looked at his best friend and sighed. “She’s in pain, Scott. She wants to go back.”

“She doesn’t want to stay?” Scott sounded vulnerable and Stiles felt sympathy.

“She can’t. She’s dead Scott, she don’t belong here. She’s room temperature and… you’d understand.” Stiles ran his fingers through his hair and remembered watching Misery do the spell. “And I don’t know how much it’s going to take out of Misery to keep her back from the dead.”

Scott just looked away and nodded.

“What did you stop by for?”

“I wanted to ask Misery something, but it can wait.” He headed out the door. Stiles watched him get on his bike and ride off before he headed upstairs and curled up next to his cousin.

Misery tripped down the stairs that morning on the way out of the house. She insisted to the Sheriff that she’s fine as she went out the door. Stiles just waved at his dad, assuming Misery wanted to keep the events of the previous night a secret from the man.

When they sit down to lunch, Misery looked at Lydia. “What is she doing?”

“I believe she mentioned stocking up on weapons when I left this morning, but I do not know for sure.”

The rest looked at the two of them curiously. “She who?” Jackson asked, glaring at the banshee.

Lydia pointed her fork at him. “Now, this is the exact attitude that turned you into a lizard, Whittemore.”

“Who, Lydia?” Kira asked, smiled at her openly. Lydia just shrugged and went back to eating her salad.

“Allison.” Scott said and Misery glared at him.

Stiles sighed, seeing the levels of panic in everyone’s eyes. “Orzo brought her back like he brought back _Kate._ ”

“So she’s getting weapons to kill us?” Ethan sounded unsure as he spoke, staring at Stiles.

“No. I found her last night, and I put her under my command instead.”

Isaac blinked at her and frowned. “So, she’s… alive?”

“In a manner of speaking.” Lydia shrugged. “She’s walking and talking, and has independent thoughts.”

“She wanted to protect the pack, since she was already back. She’s going back when this is over.”

“Misery.” Scott growled her name and she leveled him with a cool gaze.

“No, she’s right Scott.” Isaac said with a frown. “Allison probably wants to go back.”

Later, Scott grabbed Misery and took her outside. “Listen, Misery. I don’t like you, you don’t like me.”

“Alright. Where is this going?” She crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow up.

“But Stiles trusts you and I trust Stiles…”

“Good, trusting your best friend, second, and familial mage, good start.”

He glared at her. “I’m not sure if anything you say is really true, but I trust you. If you say that there’s no other way to stop Orzo, fine. If you say that an apocalypse is chasing you and Stiles, then I’ll help you guys fight it.”

She sighed and rubbed her face. “We don’t have to like each other for this to work Scott. You’re a true alpha, its part of the package that you don’t kill, that you see the best in people.”

“Deaton said that people that know necromancy are dangerous, dark souls.”

“He’s not wrong.” She smiled slightly and opened her mouth when she heard a gunshot. Scott looked toward the source of the sound as a bullet lodged itself in his shoulder. He growled and put his hand on the wound.

Misery looked at the blonde women with the skeletal face cock her gun again, and grabbed Scott’s shoulder, pushing him back into the school. She pushed the alpha farther into the school as the door opened behind them. Kate’s laugh echoed in the hallways.

They both panted against the wall of a corner. Misery looked at him, as he examined the wound. “Wolfsbane.” She rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a vial. He glanced at her as she pushed it into his hand. “Go find Stiles, I’ll distract her.”

Before he could respond, Misery was rushing to where Kate was calling for Scott.

“Hey Kate, long time no see.”

“I always knew you’d find your way to Beacon Hills, you little bitch.”


	19. No Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's 2 am, it's a hundred degrees in my room and 4 degrees outside, and I'm writing fanfiction. This is my life now. I really have no life over breaks, but it's good for rapid fire updates. Keep enjoying the thing.

****

When Scott rushed into the locker room, where Stiles and Isaac where changing for gym, the two stared at him. Without saying anything, Scott pushed the vial into his best friend’s hand and pulling off his shirt.

“Was this Kate?” Stiles asked as he snapped, trying to set the small twig of wolfsbane to ignite like he’d seen Misery do. Scott nodded. “Where is she?”

“Misery’s…” Before the alpha could finish, Isaac’s eyes were glowing yellow and he was running out the door. Stiles called after him, but grumbled and put his attention back on his best friend.

Once the ash was pressed into Scott’s wound, Stiles helped him up and looked out into the hallway. He didn’t hear anymore gun fire, or any thing really. “Misery must’ve put the school to sleep again.”

Scott nodded and slid his spare shirt from his locker back on. “You go help Misery, I’m going to get the rest of the pack out of her.”

Stiles looked at him. “You want me to go fight the undead killing machine?”

“She won’t kill _you_ Stiles.”

When Stiles found his cousin, he saw Isaac laying on the ground, unconscious and bleeding. He mentally called the wolf an idiot before looking to where Misery was standing, scowling at the undead blonde. Kate was smirking, despite the fact that her lips looked like they were about to fall off.

“So, are we just going to stand here and talk, or are you going to let me hunt down these damned wolves?”

Misery’s cheek was bleeding, and she just focused her glare more fiercely. “Neither. I was planning on sending you back to hell.”

“Oh? Really?” Kate ran at her, holding a machete in her bony hand tightly.

Stiles threw up a shield as he ran out from his hiding place. Kate was held back by it, hitting it with the hand she was still holding a hand gun in. He looked at his cousin, who was staring at him with shock. “Tend to Isaac, I got this.”

She then gave him a look that questioned whether or not he really “had it”, but ran over to the wolf anyway.

“Stiles, good to see you again.” Kate smiled at him, her eyes bright with joy. “How’s _Derek_?”

Stiles glared at her, “He’s fine, thanks for asking. He’ll be better when your back in the ground though.”

“So he didn’t die?”

Misery pulled out her phone then, propping it between her shoulder and chin, still trying to do something without Isaac.

“I really don’t have time to talk right now, Derek.” Stiles and Kate both looked at her, then at each other. “He came from gym, in a bit of a hurry, of course he doesn’t have his phone.” Kate’s grin grew and Stiles’ took a deep breath trying not to let his anger break the shield. “I-I… fuck, I need wolfsbane. There’s some in the trunk of the purple demon in the parking lot.”

“Tell him to come join the party.” Kate barked to Misery.

“Derek? Derek?” Misery let her phone drop to the floor. “Shit.”

Derek came in the doors behind Kate a few seconds later. He was shifted, and his eyes shined an even colder blue than usual. Kate turned to him and held up her gun. “Oh, I do hate that face, Derek.”

The wolf growled and threw Misery the vial of wolfsbane, before charging at Kate. Stiles dropped the shield, focusing instead on stopping the bullet that was going straight to the werewolf’s head. A shield surrounded the wolf and the bullet fell to the ground harmlessly. Derek was still baring his fangs at Kate, banging against the shield.

“We don’t have time for you to get into a pissing match with your crazy ex-girlfriend, Derek.” Stiles glared at the wolf.

Kate looked at Stiles again, raising her gun to his hand. “I can’t kill you, but Master didn’t say anything about shooting you.”

With a smirk, Stiles’ let the shield fall around Derek, the wolf tackling the undead hunter to the ground. Kate pushed her elbow back as she dropped the gun, bone colliding with Derek’s nose, hard. The wolf growled, but moved off her slightly, enough for her to turn and slash across his chest with the blade.

Derek moved back enough from that for her to stand up, a better position to cut the wolf’s head off.

“Stiles, duck.” A voice said behind him, and without even questioning it, he dropped to the floor. An arrow flew through where his head was a few seconds prior, hitting the machete out of Kate’s hand.

Kate turned and her face just showed a smile. “Hello, Allison.”

Without saying anything, Allison let another arrow loose, lodging itself into Kate’s chest. She looked down at it and laughed. “We’re not so easy to kill. We’re already dead, my dear niece.”

“I think a beheading will work fine.” Misery said, swinging the machete before Kate could turn to her. Kate’s head flew a few feet and Misery walked over to it, picked it up and stared into the still moving face. “Give my mother my regards when you get back down there.”

A small amount of black smoke exited Kate’s mouth before the face and body stopped twitching. Misery threw the head with the body and glanced at Allison. “You’re late.”

“I was trying to avoid my dad.” Allison lowered her bow and walked over. “Are you going to send me back like that?”

“No, it’ll be much gentler, I promise.” She glanced at Derek. “Any wolfsbane on that wound Derek?”

The wolf grunted and grabbed Stiles’ offered hand to get up. “I’m fine.” Stiles mumbled something about him not being so sure and Derek glared at him. When Misery looked at Allison again, she followed the dead girl’s gaze to Isaac’s still unconscious form.

“He’s going to be alright. The wounds were deep, and the bullet was pretty close to his heart.” Allison smiled at nodded. “Did any of the others see you on your way in?” She shook her head. “Well, they know you’re back, but lets try to limit the exposure.”

“What are we doing with Kate?” Stiles asked. Misery looked over at him, he was standing next to Derek, both of them panting and with an arm around the other’s waist.

“Derek is going to take Kate and Allison too the woods and burn Kate.”

“Why do I have to do it?” Derek huffed, glaring at Allison.

“Because the rest of us have school to attend.”

The wolf just rolled his eyes and parted from Stiles hesitantly. He picked up the majority of Kate and Allison grabbed the head. They both went out the doors silently.

Isaac groaned from ground as the bell rang. Misery and Stiles both looked at him and moved to get him out of sight before the students woke up and started to enter the halls.

Misery smiled at him once they had him outside. “How are you doing?”

“Did I miss the entire fight?” He asked, sitting up and holding his chest where the bullet wound had healed.

“Sorry dude. You were totally useless.” Stiles smiled at him.

“How’d it go?”

“Derek came in and brought the wolfsbane that saved your life.” Misery shrugged.

“And fucked up the fight, royally.” Stiles snorted, but had a fond look on his face.

“But then your dead girlfriend saved us.”

“You were the one that cut off her head.”

Isaac just stared at them and nodded. “Where is Allison now?”

“Burning her aunt’s body with Derek.” Stiles shrugged and stood up. “I’m going to go find everyone else.”

Misery frowned down at Isaac. “You’re such an idiot. You knew that she wanted to kill you, and yet you rush in anyway.”

“I wasn’t going to leave you alone to fight.” He glared at her, his eyes flashing yellow.

“Kate couldn’t kill me, Orzo told her to make sure Stiles and I would still be alive when he got to us.” She yelled at him.

“I don’t care. Last time I let someone fight on their own…” Isaac shook his head and covered his face. “You know what happened.”

Misery groaned. “Listen, Isaac, I can take care of myself…”

“That’s exactly what she used to say!” Isaac snapped at her. “You’re not immortal anymore, remember?”

Her face softened as she looked away. “You know, I actually did forget. I’ve been living so long without having to fear death, I forgot that some people were afraid of dying.”

“I’m not afraid of dying. I’m afraid of losing anyone else.” He smiled and reached to put his hand on her cheek. “Especially before we’ve even gotten to know each other.”

She looked at him, her eyes searching his face. “Why are you trying so hard?”

“Stilinski said werewolves know, _I know_ Misery.” He surged forward and pressed his lips to hers sloppily.

She pulled back, glaring at him. “Y-You.. I-Isaac… _shit_.” After taking a few deep breaths and standing, she continued. “You can’t be. You don’t fit what I’ve been told.”

“What were you told?” Isaac stood up too, glaring back at her.

Misery recited what was written in her journal. He just stared at her, looking on the edge of an angry growl and amused laughter. Instead of either, the wolf just kissed her again. Sad recognition flooded her eyes as she let him kiss her. When he pulled back, panting and searching her face, she smiled at him.

“I’m sorry. So sorry for all your losses.” She pushed back his hair and kissed his forehead. “Who was it?”

Isaac’s eyes filled with pain and she swore, immediately trying to take back the question. “My dad. He used to lock me in the freezer downstairs.”

Misery frowned and hugged him tightly, tears leaking onto his neck. He hugged her back, rubbing her back. The rest of the pack found them like that, Stiles cleared his throat and Misery pulled back immediately. Isaac let his hand linger on her waist until she was completely out of reach. Kira was smiling at them.

Misery grinned a the group. “I think we all earned ourselves the rest of the day off.”

Apparently, Misery was serious about the day off, and didn’t just mean that they got to get a few more hours training. Scott and Isaac stopped at the McCall house to get cleaned up and a change of clothes, but they all found their way to Derek’s loft. Derek still wasn’t there, but Misery pulled up Stars Wars anyway. Scott huffed, Jackson immediately left. Half an hour in, Derek came in and made Ethan move from where he was curled up on the couch behind where Stiles was sitting on the floor, way too close to the TV. The mage sat back against Derek’s legs through, before the wolf even had a chance to get comfortable.

Stiles gets up to put on the next one, the entire pack groans, even Kira who was nerding with him the entire movie. Derek announces the time and makes them all leave. Stiles noticed that his cousin was missing.

“She’s down stairs, with her friends?” Isaac asked, looking like he was trying to remember.

When he gets downstairs, she’s yelling at Charlotte. Even without superhearing, he could hear it through the door. Claire opened it, her head tilted to the side with her eyes wide. “They’re talking about you.”

Stiles stared at her, and then looked into the apartment, where he could barely see the other two girls. Claire kept staring at him, unblinking. “Not them, the voices.”

He nodded and walked over to his cousin, who immediately put her forehead on his shoulder with a groan. “Just make sure she takes her meds, Char.”

“How am I supposed to do that? I can’t _see_ her, Mis.” The blind girl waved her hand in front of her face.

“I don’t care how. Just do it, I don’t want to have to put her in a pysc ward _here_.” Misery moved her head off his shoulder and glared at the girl, even if Charlotte couldn’t see it.

Claire came in and screamed. Misery groaned and walked over to her, shaking her slightly and covering her mouth.

Stiles glanced at Charlotte. The black girl sighed. “Claire’s sister was a banshee. Claire is schizophrenic. Her delusions come in the form of mimicking the voices that banshee’s hear. Before Rose died, they were something else though.”

Misery finally got her quieted, but making her sleep with magic. She moved her to the couch and put a glowing hand to her head. Charlotte rolled her unseeing eyes. “You’re going to put her into a coma one of these days if you’re not careful.”

“And if I do, I’ll deal with it then.” Misery kissed the girl’s forehead before walking out of the apartment. Stiles followed her with a small farewell to the oracle.


	20. Test

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be a Marvel Superhero cameoing in this chapter

The next day went normally, for the most part. Stiles was sporting a bloody nose, again, from concentrating on a spell too hard, but training went well for the most part. When they got back to the house though, there was a cloaked figure standing in front of the house.

Misery got out of the Jeep and walked over to the figure, despite Stiles yelling at her to get back into the Jeep. She didn’t listen so he got out and walked over to her.

“So, you’re Misery’s cousin.” The figure lowered its hood, revealing a girl about their age. Stiles glanced at Misery, who was glaring at the girl.

“What are you doing here, Natalie?”

“My grandfather is planning something, a test.” The girl frowned at them. “I don’t think she’s been chasing you these last few years to get you in the coven.”

“What are you talking about?” Stiles asked when Misery just kept glaring at her.

Natalie’s eyes went sad and she reached out to Misery, revealing the brand on her hand. Misery moved out of her reach. “You knew. How long have you known?”

“I knew for sure after I switched Allison Argent’s allegiance.”

“You did he? Grandfather was hoping you would, but I did not think it was possible to overpower grandfather’s magic. There have only been three witches with greater power than him, and two of them are dead.”

“He wants me to kill him.” The two of them just stared at her. “He asked me once, before I left years ago. I couldn’t then, but he thinks I can now.”

“Can’t you just stab him in the heart?”

“My grandfather has lived for two centuries, using dark and powerful magics and promising his services to hell.” Natalie sighed and looked at Stiles. “Magics just as powerful must be used to remove him from this world.”

“Why does it have to be you?” Stiles looked at his cousin.

“Because he thinks I’m the only one who can.”

“The other witch, more powerful witch…”

“Is a healing mage, who has never taken a life in his near thousand years of life. He’s currently living as a healer in Switzerland.” Natalie supplied with a smile.

“Do you know what the test is?” Misery snapped.

“No.”

“Then why did you come here?”

“Misery, we were friends once. I was hoping you would just come and stop this fighting.” Natalie took her shoulders with a smile. “The coven is getting restless, tired of grandfather’s riddles. They just want you and Stiles so we can move on.”

“Get out of here Natalie. Tell your grandfather that I know, and if he wants me to do, he should stop dicking around.” Misery shrugged out of her touch and went into the house, slamming the door.

Stiles looked back at Natalie, but the girl was gone.

The next morning, Stiles found a note on the kitchen table with Misery’s name on it. It was a miracle that he had gotten up before her. He picked it up and unfolded it. Cecil jumped onto the table and stared at him.

“Did you bring this in?”

Cecil shook his head and meowed. Stiles shrugged slightly, reading the note, written in calligraphy. Misery came downstairs, and took the note from him. He sighed, staring at her as she towel dried her hair. “He wants you to bring something to life.”

Misery glanced at him and snorted. Her eyes looked over the note and she frowned. “Something inanimate, something that’s never been alive.”

“And if you don’t, one of the wolves was bewitched…”

“And is going to kill us all.” Misery threw her towel over the chair, scratched Cecil’s head, and grabbed her keys. “Let’s get to school.”

“What the hell does he want you to bring to life? A desk, a piece of chalk?” He was rummaging through her glove box, and because why not. Because he found three condoms, two guns, and a giant ass spider, that’s why not.

“Uncle could bring a desk to life.” She glanced at him with an amused look, the spider had made a perch on his head and she assured him that it wouldn’t hurt him. “When we were thirteen I brought Kovu to life for about three minutes, and I threw up blood for a week.”

“Kovu from the Lion King 2?”

“Straight from my motel TV.” Misery reached out, the spider jumping onto her arm and crawled onto her shoulder.

“So, he wants you to bring like a cartoon character or something to live?”

“Something without a form is very difficult. If it goes wrong, I- we’ll die this time.”

“Don’t get it wrong then.”

“I might need your help.”

“You have it, whether you need it or not.”

It was at lunch when Stiles explained what was apparently happening. Misery just ate her lunch, ignoring the looks that the wolves were giving her.

“So, after two hundred years the old bastard is ready to just lie down and die?”

“Two hundred years is a long time, when you’re as empty as he is. He lost his purpose a long time ago.” Misery mumbled around her mouthful of mystery meat.

“Why does it have to be you?”

Stiles explained, letting Misery eat.

“So we can stop training?”

“Stiles and I have an apocalypse chasing us. No, you can’t stop training.” Misery glared at Jackson and Malia, the two that had been complaining the most.

The entire pack groaned and Misery just smiled and continued eating.

It was while they were training that it happened. Peter came out of the thick of the forest. Derek looked at his uncle, yelling at the older male. The older wolf just stared at him, his eyes blank like when he was in a coma. Misery jumped off the hood of her car, where she was talking to Kira and Lydia.

“Derek, get back from him.” Misery said firmly as her eyes were focused on Peter. “He’s bewitched.”

Derek just stared at her, before Stiles called for him to get the rest of the wolves back. Misery shot a spell at Peter, but it missed as the wolf charged as his nephew, his face and hands shifting as he ran at him.

“Lydia, there’s a comic book in my glovebox, I’m going to need it.” Misery shouted as she shot up a shield between Derek and Peter.

“Watch out for the giant spider.” Stiles added as he moved next to Misery. The two cousins smiled when they heard her swearing at them.

Once Lydia walked over with the comic, she glared at them and went to hide behind Jackson. Misery put Derek and Scott in charge of making sure that Peter didn’t kill anyone. She flipped through the comic, Stiles looking over her shoulder. “We’re seriously going to bring Deadpool to life?”

“I figured Peter would appreciate the snark once the spell wore off of him.” Misery shrugged until she found a full page spread of the fictional assassin. She set it on the ground and put her hand over it. “Stiles, do me a favor and just throw your hand next to mine. The other hand.”

Misery didn’t  say any magic words this time, just evened her breathing and looking down at the picture with an intense look of concentration. Stiles tried to do the same, which was a major issue for him, but he managed to focus on letting his magic just follow Misery’s

Her nose started bleeding first, and she ignored the blood dripping over her parted lips. Stiles’ nose followed soon after. He wiped at it, glancing at her. Apparently, they were going to do it if they killed them, so he just closed his mouth.

He looked at the wolves. Derek and Scott were doing their best to keep Peter from harming the others. They were both worse for wear though. Then his eyes went to the comic book, and the illustration of Deadpool had changed. He hoped that meant it was working.

Peter broke free from Derek and Scott and started rushing towards the two cousins. Stiles looked at Misery and her face was only more intense. He was just about to pull his arm away to throw up a shield when a red jumpsuited man appeared in front of him. Misery’s lips feel into a sneer as the man started talking.

“Wow, that guy looks mad! Worse than the last time I messed up Wolverine’s hair!” Deadpool said as he pulled the sword from its sheath on his back.

Misery groaned and fell, catching herself so she was crotching. Stiles knelt next to her. “You actually brought Deadpool to life.”

She grinned at him before looking at the character in front of them. “Hey Deadpool, if you can get him to stop attacking without killing him, that would be lovely.”

He glanced back at her and winked. “Alright, pretty lady. If that’s what you really want.”

Stiles grinned back at her. “And he likes you.”

Deadpool made quick work of Peter, leaving the werewolf bleeding and unconscious on the forest floor. He then walked over and helped Misery to her feet. “Is that alive enough for you?”

She rolled her eyes as he wrapped an arm around her waist. “That’ll do. Thanks for the help. You should probably get back, Spidey’ll worry if you’re out too long.”

Even through the mask, Deadpool was smiling and cartoon blushes covered his cheek. Misery let go of the hand she had kept in a fist, and the man disappeared. Instantly she fell to the ground.

Stiles sighed and Scott was telling everyone that they were going to head home. Isaac rushed over to Misery, picking her up off the ground. Derek walked over and picked up his uncle, grumbling angrily.

Scott followed the Stilinski’s and Isaac back, standing in the bathroom doorway as Stiles cleaned the blood off his face. “What you two did was reckless.”

“Yeah.” Stiles looked at his friend. “But what should have we done Scott? That was the only way to break the spell on Peter.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Scott, I’m sure.”

“And what if she couldn’t do it?”

“Then we probably would’ve died.” Stiles glared at the wolf before looking back in the mirror.

Cecil came and stood behind Scott. “I’d like for you guys not to die.”

Stiles looked up at the cat-man in the mirror. “What would happen to you?”

“I would die.” He looked at Scott. “You would probably lose your alpha status, possible even all of your wolf-ness, but it’d be unlikely that you’d die.”

Scott frowned, moving off the door frame. “Is there any way I cannot be his familiar?”

Snorting, Cecil turned and went into Misery’s room. Stiles gave his best friend a reassuring smile as he followed Cecil.

Misery was on the bed, and Isaac was laying next to her, soothing through his fingers through her hair, gently. Cecil sat on the bed and touched her forehead, making her tattoo glow slightly.

“How’s she doing Isaac?”

“She’s not in pain, but she’s not waking up.” The wolf looked at her with concern, tears pooling in the corners of his eyes.

“She’s drained, used all her magic and then some.” Cecil glanced at Stiles. Stiles looked down at his arm with a sigh. “You should rest too, Stiles.”


	21. Bye Bye

Misery slept until Stiles got home from school, two days later. When the sheriff had found out what had happened, he sighed in exasperation and told Isaac to go the hell home, but didn’t really say anything about how his son and niece had almost died. Apparently he was moving onto accepting that he was probably going to be sonless, very soon.

She was sitting in the living room, eating a bowl of soup and watching what looked like the remnants of day time TV when he walked in, Isaac on his heels. The wolf spotted and sat next to her, instantly asking her question. Misery blinked at him, holding her soup bowl gently.

Stiles sat in one of the arm chairs and dropped his bookbag next to him. “How you feeling Misery?”

“Famished. Cecil made me soup.” She smiled at him softly. “Having a cat with opposable thumbs is the best.”

Stiles nodded. “How’s the magic?”

“Refilled.” Slurping a spoonful of her soup, she smiled at Isaac. “Thanks for keeping me company while I recharged.”

There werewolf smiled back at her, finally shutting up.

“So, what did you do while I slept, Stiles?”

“I practiced, at Derek’s loft.” He turned away from her and scratched his cheek. “When is that potion going to be done?”

“Tomorrow.”

When tomorrow happened, Stiles was air drumming on the Jeep steering wheel on the way to school. Misery rolled her eyes at him as she looked out the window. The walked into the school and immediately looked at each other. They were late, because Stiles took the longest shower of his life, and the bell should have just rang. Everyone was still, statue still. Stiles walked over to Danny and poked him. Nothing happened.

“The same spell he had on the Nut House when he kidnapped you and Derek.” Misery explained as she walked over. Her eyes looked to Danny’s hand and she smiled. “And Orzo said he hadn’t read Harry Potter.”

She took a sheet of paper from the human’s grasp. Stiles read it over her shoulder. “The gym huh?”

The gym was teaming with life. The entire pack standing in the corner, surrounded by robed figures constantly casting spells and readjusting mountain ash lines. Orzo was standing in the center with his granddaughter. “We don’t have to fight, Misery, Stiles.”

Misery dropped her bookbag and sweatshirt by the door. “I knew I should’ve worn yoga pants today.” Stiles glared at her as he dropped his own bag. She just grinned and looked at Orzo. “We do old man. But you don’t need to kill the wolves.”

“You want to make it a fight, you two and me?”

Stiles nodded and Misery glanced over at him. “If we kill you, this is over. Natalie takes the coven and goes.”

One of the men around the pack turned around. “You bare the brand of the coven Misery! You are one of us.”

Misery stared him in the eyes as her hand glowed a fiery orange. Her other hand moved her hair out of the way as she touched the brand on the back of her neck. Stiles wrinkled his nose at the smell of burning flesh.

When her hair and hand dropped her eyes moved back to Orzo. The man smiled as he shooed his granddaughter. Stiles and Misery walked towards him slowly.

The battle Stiles was expecting was not what he got. Orzo brought up a shield to keep anyone else out of the fight, and Stiles looked towards Misery for direction, but both her and Orzo were just standing there. He was expecting a battle that in a movie would take months of CGI work and precise chorography. An epic magic fight between two masters that would take hours to finish itself. But, what he witnessed were three spells from each of them and then Misery was on the ground, wiping the blood from her lip. Stiles threw an energy ball at the man, but it reflected back at him and he hit the ground next to his cousin. She glanced up at him as Orzo was talking about victory and taking away the shield.

Stiles heard one of the doors open, maintenance needed to fix those squeaks. He looked up at Orzo as an arrow lodged itself in his chest. He rolled his eyes as he pulled it out and sent a spell towards Allison. The undead girl frozen, the bow dropping from her hand. Orzo did too, the arrow dropping away from him as he started to fall to the ground.

“Remind me to kiss Deaton later.” Misery said as she pulled herself off the ground. Stiles reached up for her to help him up.

“Kanima venom?”

Misery shrugged and moved her focus to Orzo. Stiles did the same. She took the few steps over to him as her hand glowed a piercing white.

She closed her eyes and spoke, her voice filled with power as she extended her hand over the man. Stiles put his hand out next to hers and felt the meaning of the words as his hand absorbed her glow. As she repeated the spell, he said it with her, feeling her sadness.

Stiles watched Orzo mouth something at them before he faded into white mist. Misery turned her hand into a fist as she leaned against his shoulder. He caught her quickly as the rest of the witches disappeared in black smoke. The rest of the school was moving around him, the first period gym class came running in from the locker room.

When the pack walked out, Allison had disappeared and Scott was making them all finish the day. The entire pack groaned as they walked to all their classes, late.

After school let out, the rest of the school confused by the timing since they lost several minutes while time was frozen, the entire pack followed them back to the Stilinski house. Derek was standing outside with his arms crossed. Misery glared at Stiles for telling them about the potion.

She dished out small amounts into a few vials, handing them to everyone that wanted one. Scott was very eager to know his soulmate, but Jackson and Ethan didn’t give two shits. Derek and Isaac rolled their eyes at her when she asked.

Scott smashed his first. A tear fell down his face when a misty figure smiled back at him. Kira gripped his shoulder tightly as she looked at the face of Allison.

“Well, maybe Scott should’ve gone last.” Misery said blandly as she smashed her own vial. Isaac smirked at her as his own face appeared in the smoke. She glared at him once it cleared, moving to stand next to him.

Everyone stared at Stiles, waiting for him. He took a deep breath and smashed it on the floor. Derek glared at him from the smoke and he make an unsure noise as he looked at the fleshy Derek. The wolf was staring at him intensely and Stiles was pretty sure he was smiling. Stiles just rolled his eyes on his way over to kiss the grin off his face.

Everyone that wasn’t a Stilinski soulmate left, to give them time to figure out what was going on. Misery was cleaning up the mess on the floor while Stiles and Derek were cuddling at the table.

“So, you know your soulmates, shouldn’t there be an apocalypse happening right now?” Isaac asked, since Misery wasn’t letting him help clean up.

“I reread the translation, and I’m pretty sure it means know in the biblical sense.” Misery’s face was red as she said it. Stiles’ face went red too.

“You mean sex?”

“No, I mean ballroom dancing.”

“Shouldn’t you two be avoiding the start of an apocalypse?” Derek asked as he pulled Stiles closer.

“We’ve been putting it off for the last 18 years, it’ll be worse if we don’t summon it than if we wait it out.”

“There isn’t any way to stop it from coming?”

Misery shook her head. “The only thing that could’ve stopped it from coming would Stiles and I not being born.”

Derek and Isaac shared a glance, agreeing that was a terrible idea. Misery just rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t exactly going to go back in time and sabotage our births.”

“Because we can’t time travel, right?” Stiles asked, staring at his cousin. She stared back at him and then scratched her cheek.

“The fall of 1817 in France was very lovely.” All three of them looked at her. “Though, the fact that I couldn’t wear pants was a bummer… but French girls were definitely worth that corset.”

“So, we can actually time travel?” Stiles asked eagerly.

“Time Travel is hard. I was trying to get to a week prior when I got stuck in France. Getting to the wrong place is pretty much the norm.” She shrugged and sat next to Isaac. “It’s the main reason we’re not teaching you how to teleport, I don’t want to be trying to get across the lacrosse pitch and end up in a parallel universe.”

“Wait, parallel universe?”


	22. Sold

The sheriff spent all of dinner glaring at Derek. Misery just rolled her eyes at him. “Didn’t you tell me two days ago what a great kid Derek is and how after everything he’s been through he deserved to find someone?”

He moved his glare to her. “I didn’t mean my son.”

“Dad, I’m going to be 18 soon, and Derek’s only like five years older than me.” Stiles sighed as Derek focused on his food.

“It has nothing to do with the age difference. It’s just that Derek’s a werewolf.”

“Isaac’s a werewolf, and you’re not giving Misery any crap about it.”

“Misery’s dated some weird monsters.” Misery said, referring to herself in the third person. “Minotaurs are very interesting companions, but mermaids don’t need to come up for air.”

“You dated a minotaur?” Derek stared at her with a strange expression on his face. “I heard they’re… a little temperamental.”

“Werewolves are temperamental. Minotaurs are volatile.” She smirked at him, stabbing at her meal. “It certainly made dates with bad waiters interesting.”

The sheriff was glaring at her. “Any other dangerous things you’ve dated?”

Her grin was wicked as she put a piece of meat into her mouth. “I was dating the anti-Christ’s little brother for a while, until he got eaten by ghouls.”

Nodding, Stilinski looked at his son. “You can continue dating your werewolf soulmate.”

Stiles threw his fist up as he grinned at Derek. The wolf just rolled his eyes and complimented Misery on her cooking.

The two werewolves were forced out of the house after they had helped with the dishes, and the sheriff stood in the doorway of Stiles’ room, glaring at them. “So, we’re about to have an apocalypse on our hands?”

Stiles shugged as he crawled into his bed. Misery stared at her uncle. “I know you tried to avoid this…”

“Once you two were conceived, there was nothing anyone could do. Vanessa and I just wanted to delay it as long as possible.” He glanced at the leatherbound book that Stiles had on his desk. “Are you sure you’re ready?”

“No one is ever ready for an apocalypse.” Misery sat on Stiles’ bed next to him.

After Stiles had fallen asleep, he opened his eyes and found himself in a familiar place. A pure white space with florescent lights. A tree stump was in the center and he started walking towards it.

“I wouldn’t go over there just yet.” Misery’s voice came from behind him. He turned and saw her standing against the wall.

“Are you… is this…”

“A dream? We’re sleeping, so I’m going to go with sure.” She pushed off the wall and walked over to where he was standing. “I think we’re still waiting for two more people.”

He opened his mouth to question her, but she just nodded passed him, to two doors on the other side of the large room. “Who?”

She shrugged as she watched the door. “My experience says not anyone from the realm of the living.”

It was a few minutes before her assumptions were proven correct. The doors opened and a woman came from each. Both had smiles on their face, though Claudia’s was kind and lovely, while Cynthia’s was cruel and devious.

Misery was staring at her mother as the woman’s eyes turned deep black. “Hello, fancy seeing you two in a place like this.”

Claudia looked at her sister-in-law, then at her son and niece. Stiles ran over to her and hugged her tightly.

“No hug for your mother, Misery?” Cynthia had stopped as her eyes wondered to the stump. “It’s been a few years since we’ve seen each other.”

“What, do you want me to send mother’s day gift baskets to hell from now on too?” Misery glared at her.

Claudia cleared her throat, keeping a hand on Stiles’ shoulder. Cynthia looked at her. “Damn Di, you got old. I’m glad I didn’t have to waste my youth on my kid.”

“We’re not here to hear about how sad your afterlife is, Tia. We were called here by the nematon to help our children.”

“An old dead tree isn’t the boss of me.” Cynthia crossed her arms as her eyes finally faded from black.

“How is the King of Hell? Is he still pussyfooting around with hunters?” Misery glowered at her mother, crossing her arms in the same exact manner.

Stiles glanced at his mother who just smiled at him. “Will you both act your age?”

They both looked at her and scoffed. Stiles snorted and looked at the stump. “What does the tree care?”

“You helped wake it up. It wants to repay the debt.” Misery explained. “It’s a sentient being, with favors to ask and a very large amount of influence.”

“Favors?” Stiles took a few steps towards it. “What could it possibly want?”

“It wants its full power back.” Cynthia supplied. “It wants to grow, be a tree and not just a glorified table.”

“It wants us to regrow it?” He looked at the two dead women, both of who nodded at him. His eyes then went to Misery, who was still glaring at her mother. “You okay Misery?”

“She has a few choice words she’d like to say to me, I’m sure.” Misery’s mother said as she walked towards her daughter. “But she can’t blame me for her choices.”

Misery tensed, moving her eyes onto one of the white walls. Stiles looked over at her as his mother spoke. “You made sure she knew what you thought of her. You sold your soul in an attempt to keep her from existing.”

“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Cynthia’s eyes were trained on her daughter. “It’s not as fun when you can die, is it?”

“Wait, selling your soul?” Stiles moved so Misery was staring at him instead. “You told me you didn’t do that.”

“Not for my powers.” She turned away from him quickly. “I’ve done it a few times, and weaseled my way out of my end of the deal.”

“Crowley is going to keep this contract now that his hellhounds can rip you to shreds. How many more years until they come scratching at your door?”

Misery closed her eyes and dropped her arms. “It doesn’t matter.”

Stiles blinked and his cousin was gone from the room. The room started shaking and his mother sighed. “It can’t hold us both here without both of you and Misery giving it power.”

“What?” Before he got an answer, Cynthia was disappearing with a wink in his direction. His mother gave him a smile and faded from the room.

It took a few minutes for him to wake himself up, with a scream. His bed was empty and he heard the faint rumble of a car starting outside the house. He groaned and sat up. His phone was blinking with a text from Scott. It wasn’t extremely important, but he texted him back. The alpha answered with a phone call.

“Why do you care if Isaac’s at my house?” The wolf sounded groggy.

“Misery just stormed out, and I sort of figured she’d want to be with her soulmate.” Stiles was putting on his shoes as he talked on the phone.

“Fair enough… He’s here. I think he’s on the couch, or something.”

Stiles hung up and headed downstairs. He tried starting up the Jeep, but it wouldn’t turn over. Cecil leaned through the window. “She cursed it, it’s not going to start.”

“We need to get you a bell.” Stiles glared at the cat. “I just want to make sure she’s okay.”

“What happened?”

“We were sharing a dream and our moms were there…”

“Ah, that would upset her.” Cecil mused as he looked down the street. “I mean, the woman named her Misery and then did everything she could to make her life hell.”

“She was dead how did she…”

“Cynthia was twisted enough in life that it didn’t take long for her to become a demon.” The man shrugged as he moved back so Stiles could get out. “Demons can possess anyone at any time. She might very well be in someone in Beacon Hills.”

“What?” Stiles said as he hopped out of the Jeep, pulling out his phone to call Derek.

“Last time I saw here, she was Claire and Rose’s mom.” Cecil shrugged and headed back inside, turning into his cat form as he took a step.

When Derek pulled up in front of his house, he had gotten a text from Isaac, telling him that she wasn’t with him. He got in and glanced at the werewolf. “She’s not with Isaac.”

Raising an eyebrow at the human, Derek snorted. “If you sold your soul, would I be the first person you ran to?”

“I mean… uh… no.” Stiles swore as he hit his forehead. “I wouldn’t tell my soulmate that my soul was going to Hell…”

Derek started driving as Stiles started shaking, his arms flailing. “Wati! Shit, am I going to go to Hell too?”

“I doubt it.” The wolf replied blandly. “But, when the hellhounds come for her…”

“If she dies, I die.” Stiles banged the back of his head against the headrest. “I hate this stupid prophecy.”

Snorting, Derek just stepped on the peddle a little harder. Stiles wasn’t sure where they were going, but apparently Derek did. They arrived at an empty lot at the edge of the preserve, and Derek got out of the car. Stiles quickly got out behind him and looked around.

“Where are we?”

As Derek glanced into the barren land, he just shrugged with a knowing smile.

“There’s nothing here!” Stiles swung his hands forward and they passed through a magic field, his tattoos glowing. Derek just smirked at him before walking through the barrier. Glaring at him, Stiles followed him, seeing Misery’s car in the yard. It was dark outside, but in the bubble it was if the sun was shining high in the sky.

The house in front of him was run down and small. It was probably once regal, but still small. The years of disuse and neglect letting the roof sag in some places and vines covering the side of the wooden siding.

Derek stayed outside, nodding for Stiles to go inside. The stairs onto the porch creaked like they were threatening to let him fall. The door was open and he stepped inside.

“Misery?” He didn’t hear anything, but there was a light coming from one of the open doors.

She looked up from the floor of a disorganized library. Her face was blank and had tear tracks on her cheeks. “How’d you find me?”

“Derek apparently knew this was here.” He sat down next to her. “How long do you have? I don’t know much about demon deals…”

“Nine years. I only made the deal last year.” She snorted and ran a hand over her face. “It was such a stupid deal. I needed a few things for a spell, a spell that didn’t even fucking work…”

“How’d you get out of the other ones?”

“Sometimes, I’d remind them that I was immortal, and sometimes I’d do something better for them than getting my soul would’ve been.”

“How are we going to get you out of this one?”

“You just don’t want to die in nine years.” She smiled at him.

“I’d also like for you not to go to hell.” He rolled his eyes as he slapped her back. “Come on, let’s get home. We can’t stop an apocalypse on only a few hours of sleep.”

As she stood up, she smirked at him. “The last attempted apocalypse was stopped by a functioning alcohol and a college drop out.”

Stiles stared at her, not sure if she was joking. Derek was gone when they both got out of the house. She grinned at him. “I’ll fix the Jeep when we get home.”


	23. The Alpha

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first part of the chapter is backstory.

What hurt more than anything, was watching them be separated. It more than becoming alpha and losing her parents at a young age and it hurt more than watching Cynthia die, and feeling that bond shatter. From the first time Przemyslaw was picked up in the hospital for Claudia to breast feed. The two only shut up when Vanessa had shoved the bottle into her goddaughter’s mouth.

The first few nights when Misery moved in with Vanessa after the two had turned three, the werewolf spent on the counter of her kitchen, talking to the Stilinskis over the sounds of the screaming children.

It was even worse when Vanessa decided that across town wasn’t far enough, that she was needed elsewhere. She knew her and Misery had to go, but Misery and Przemyslaw weren’t as understanding. They had both just turned six and were starting kindergarten. It was obvious while he was crying that he still didn’t understand that him and his cousin weren’t going to school together. Misery didn’t cry, she just sat around her aunt and uncle’s home in the days before they left, not talking to her godmother.

Misery had just started to learn about the other side of the world. The two of them were over at the Hale house while Talia was unsuccessfully coaching her son on controlling his shift. The girl wasn’t scared, only curious.

It was time for Vanessa to finally get back to her pack, back to being an alpha.

The immediate pack took to Misery instantly, which was surprising that they never liked her mother. It was good to be in her own home with her own pack again, but Vanessa knew that Misery just wanted to be back in Beacon Hills.

The first two years, the two visited Beacon Hills often, every chance they had. Stiles and Misery were always glad to see each other, and always disappointed when Misery had to leave. Vanessa was just relieved when her godson told her that he went by Stiles now, his best friend Scott gave him the nickname apparently. It was a godsend, compared to his given name.

But despite having to watching the two separate physically, what the worst was seeing them change. Stiles was interested in normal-ish things. They were weird, but it wasn’t the occult like Misery was interested in.

She was young, but she was already all up in the affairs of the pack, asking questions like she the heir to it or something. Only seven and she was already more interested than Vanessa was at thirteen. The girl was also interested in her magical heritage, pouring over books and doing simple magic based on rhymes and will.

“Come on, it’s just a meeting, just let her come along.” Her second hand said as he shoved his suitcase into the back of the car.

Vanessa glared at him. “She’s just a kid. I _never_ even knew about pack affairs when I was her age, and I was heir to this pack.”

“What can it hurt, to let her come along?” He said it softly.

Her eyes went to the girl sitting on the porch, levitating her white cat into the air. The cat looked at her with cold blue eyes, the pink bow in his fur making Vanessa smile. “I guess I’ll never know if she doesn’t come along, huh?”

It could hurt a lot apparently. The peaceful meeting quickly dissolved to snarling and threats. The two packs that were warring over a small portion of land were displeased at the solution Vanessa had proposed, and their emissaries were throwing curses across the room while the alphas were baring their fangs.

She was just about to growl out an order when Misery stood up on the table and shouted.

“Enough!” The room shook with power and every eye was on her. “You asked Vanessa to help you settle this, so you should listen to her.”

The emissary with the shorter temper screamed in frustration, pulling a knife out from her sleeve.

“No…” Vanessa whispered, moving closer to her ward, but the knife was buried in the girl’s arm before the alpha could reach her. Misery swayed and Vanessa could never imagined what she did next.

Misery pulled the knife out of her flesh, gripping the handle tightly as the blood dripped down her arm. Her eyes were trained on the emissary and she let the knife fly, the blade burying itself deep into the woman’s skull.

When they got home, Misery passed out on the couch, tears running down her cheeks. The white cat curled up next to her, watching her. Vanessa ran her fingers over the bandage on the girl’s arm. “You tried to tell me, didn’t you Cecil? A diligent familiar.”

The cat huffed and nuzzled into Misery.

A few days later, Claudia and David asked what happened to Misery’s arm Vanessa was at a loss for words, but she was quick, telling them she fell at school, right on a broken piece of metal.

One more person died at Misery’s hand before her tattoos showed up on her arm. A boy in her class that wouldn’t stop pulling on a friend of hers pigtails, but it was a complete accident. She pushed him too hard on the playground and his head split open on the pavement.

A lot of things happened the day Misery got her tattoos. Vanessa knew that female mages usually got them when they got their first period. She was on the phone with David when she smelled her niece’s blood. Her eyes closed as she listened to the man on the phone, telling her the diagnosis of his wife and how long the love of his life had left to live.

Claudia’s death changed everything between Misery and Stiles, and Vanessa ached for them. The girl didn’t speak to her cousin at his mother’s funeral, and the only words she said to her uncle were after she punched him in the face for drunkenly yelling at his son.

Misery started slipping in school, begging for Vanessa to take her on her long trips to the ends of the earth. She’d disappear for days and come back with stray supernaturals and blood on her hands. She stopped looking the alpha in the eyes when she spoke to her and her heart was always steady.

Vanessa and David started having heated arguments, about Misery and about Stiles. About travel and being trapped. It was hard, and even harder when Misery disappeared and came back with new powers, spells she only could’ve learned from old masters. The cuts, burns, and tattoos were starting to add up.

She was at her wits end until she got a call from someone she thought she’d never hear from again. “Hello?” She answered her cell with caution.

“Vanessa, how good to hear your voice.” The voice said, and he almost dropped the phone.

“Peter Hale. I heard you were in a coma, then I heard you were dead.” She replied with a sneer. “How’d you get my number?”

“Deaton, such a wealth of information isn’t he?” He chuckled.

“Why are you calling me?”

“No reason. I just know something you might want to know…” Peter hummed. “How is Cynthia’s daughter? Is she everything her mother was?”

“It’s not really any of your business, is it Peter?”

“She has a cousin, doesn’t she? Still lives in Beacon Hills, right?”

Vanessa tensed as he spoke. “You stay away from him.”

“He came to me. He’s a part of our world now, even though you tried to keep him normal.” When Vanessa didn’t say anything, he continued. “I turned his best friend, and now he’s part of a pack. But more importantly, he was possessed. He killed people, his father’s deputies, Argent’s daughter.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I think it’s time to reunite them, don’t you think?”

* * *

“Oh shit…” Misery said as she pulled in front of the house. The lights were on and there was a car parked behind the Jeep.

Stiles glanced at her and then the house. “What’s up?”

“Vanessa decided to show her face.” She turned off the car, it simmering down and popping a few times. Stiles was about to make a snide comment about the car, but she got out and stomped up to the front door.

Stiles followed after her, and prepared to hear his dad and Vanessa yelling at the top of their lungs. The two weren’t, they were sitting at the kitchen table, drinking tea. Misery stormed into the kitchen.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

Vanessa tilted her head up to look at the girl. “David’s memory is in working order, I wanted to come and have a nice chat with him. I’ve missed it.”

Rolling her eyes, Misery headed upstairs. Stiles smiled and sat down with the two adults, staring at Vanessa. She grinned at him, her eyes flashing red. “How are you doing kiddo?”

“Alright, I guess…”

“You sure? I mean you’re powerful mage, you were possessed and all your friends are werewolves.”

“Lydia’s a banshee.” Stiles held up a finger and smiled at her. “It’s not even a surprise, considering I’ve been surrounded by the supernatural my entire life.”

Shrugging, she picked up her cup. “True.”

The sheriff sighed. “Vanessa just got a job at the school. She’ll be teaching… What was it again?”

“English. I promise not to try to kill your father like your last English teacher.”

“I appreciate that Vanessa.”

“How’d you hear about that?” Stiles glanced at his dad.

“Peter Hale. He and your Aunt were very close so since he was resurrected he’s been giving me updates about the town.” Vanessa grunted. “It’s the reason I knew it was time to send Misery back home.”

“Peter Hale? Seriously?”

“Yeah… Do me a favor and keep him away from Misery… I don’t trust him.”

“Join the club, no one trusts Peter.”

Misery ignored him most of the next day, slamming her locker in his face when he tried to talk to him. Stiles just shrugged as Scott ran towards him.

“Hey Scotty…”

“There’s another alpha…” Scott said as his eyes darted around, catching Misery and Isaac holding hands.

“Oh, yeah. My godmother. She’s teaching English.” Stiles shrugged. “And she promises not to try to sacrifice our parents.”

Nodding, the alpha’s eyes were still on Misery and Isaac. Stiles turned to look at them.

“I see you found her last night. What happened?”

“It’s complicated… but come on, I’ll introduce you to Vanessa. She’s a real alpha, with experience.”

Scott leveled him with an unimpressed glare, letting the mage throw an arm around his shoulders and lead him down the hall.


	24. Healing Touch

Vanessa glanced away from Finstock as the two boys walked into the room. He glanced at them too. “Keep an eye on that one, he is a disturbing young man.”

Stiles just shrugged as he looked at Scott. Scott rolled his eyes before looking at Vanessa. The second Finstock was out of the room, Vanessa smiled at the two of them, her eyes flashing red.

“Good morning Stiles. This must be your alpha.” When Scott just kept staring at her, she chuckled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Scott. I’ve heard so much about you.”

“From who?” Stiles glanced at Scott.

“Peter, and Duecalion.” The older alpha shrugged and sat on her desk. “Though I’m sure their descriptions don’t do you justice.”

“Oh… uh…” Scott finally said, shaking his head slightly.

“Welcome back to earth Scotty.” Stiles snorted as he smacked him on the back.

Vanessa smiled turned malicious as she leaned across her desk. “Peter certainly did get your dimwittedness down to a t.”

“Uh sorry… it’s just that… that you’re so…” The younger alpha scratched the back of his neck, looking away from her.

“Brimming with power?” She hummed in response to his nod. “I’m sure you know the number and strength of the members of a pack make an alpha stronger. Many people tell me that my pack is the biggest, since my pack is a member of smaller packs.”

“Misery mentioned that you were thinking of offering me…”

“I’ve thought of it, but I think it would be better to wait. Your pack is unstable, and I don’t want you destabilizing the power balance. Besides, I’m sure many of the older alphas would not like to be taking orders from a 17 year old bitten wolf.”

“Most of his pack has trouble taking orders from him.” Misery said from the door way, Isaac rolling his eyes behind her.

“This must be Isaac.” Vanessa’s eyes lit up when she stared at him. The beta ducked his head to avoid his gaze. “The Sheriff was telling me all about you last night.”

“I’m going to rewipe his memory when I get home.” Misery grumbled as she walked into the room. Her eyes went to Stiles. “We’re going to Deaton’s after school. Don’t be late.”

“Why?” Stiles squinted at her suspiciously.

“Because Deaton has a lot of knowledge about a lot of things we need to know about.” She rolled her eyes at him like it was obvious.

“If you can crack his riddles.” Vanessa mumbled under her breath.

“Just don’t be late.” She repeated before pushing past Isaac to head to class. Stiles just sighed and followed behind her, pulling at Scott’s arm.

Misery was already at Deaton’s when he and Scott pulled up. She was sitting on one of the metal tables and rolling her eyes as the vet was lecturing her about something.

“Oh my Goddess Deaton. I’ll put her back in the ground when I get around to it. Shut up.” She was saying as the two boys walked into the examine room.

The emissary turned around and eyed up the two boys. “Misery tells me that the Nematon wants you two to regrow it.”

Stiles glanced at his cousin, who was glaring Deaton. “Uh, yeah. Apparently.”

“Isn’t that a terrible idea?” Scott asked. “Wouldn’t you guys need to sacrifice someone or something.”

“Not really. You guys already gave it power, so it just wants to be able to use its power.” Misery shrugged, her eyes mocking the werewolf. “Besides, every magic worker has to participate in a ritual sacrifice once in their lives.”

Stiles opened his mouth and she put up a finger to stop him. “And not as the sacrifice.”

He crossed his arms. “And who exactly did you sacrifice?”

“A volunteer. A woman with an incurable, even with magic, illness, for a ritual that would cleanse her village of their sins and ensure the next generations health.” She shrugged again. “I was in Haiti. It happens.”

“How does that even… What?” He stared at her for a while, as no one talked, trying to figure out how she got around so much.

Deaton cleared his throat and pulled down a tray of vials that definitely weren’t for dogs. “If you two are serious about it, there was one seed kept when the Nematon was cut down.”

The three teenager’s eyes all moved to the vial in his hand.

“But, I would caution you. It was cut down for a reason. Nematon’s are cannot be controlled, only bargained with. They have their own will.”

“One tried to kill me and the centaurs I was hunting with while I was in Greece. They’re not always the nicest things.”

“Seriously?” Stiles threw his arms towards his cousin. “Do you make this stuff up? Like you’re only seventeen, how even?”

She just grinned at him and got off the table, swiping the vial from Deaton’s hand. “Come on, I have a mountain of homework, and I just found I spell I want you to try.”

“What kind of spell?” Her eyelashes just batted innocently at him as she headed out the door. “Misery? Misery!”

Stiles grabbed some take out with Scott, dropping some off at the station and hospital, before he dropped his best friend off and finally headed home. Misery was sprawled on the couch with three different binders surrounding her. She didn’t even look up, only throwing a leather bound book with a post it note sticking out of a page.

“Hello to you too.” He opened the book and stared at the spread of pages. There was a well illustrated picture of someone bleeding, a lot, with someone bending over them and seemingly healing them. “Healing magic?”

“It’s super complicated and I’ve never been very good at simple healing spells. It’s been suggested to me that it’s because I’m literally a cold blood killer, but I like to think it’s because it’s anything else.” She glanced up at him briefly.

“I’ve killed people too. I’d kill people again if it was life or death.”

“That’s different Stiles. The people you have killed, weren’t by your will, only by your hands. The people you would kill, you’d try a different option first.”

Vanessa came in from the kitchen and smiled at him. “Hey Stiles. How about I help you with that, so your cousin doesn’t make you next on her very long list of people she’s killed.”

“I’d die too.”

Stiles just nodded at his godmother and followed her into the kitchen She took the book from him and looked over the pages, sipping from a coffee mug. “This is a complicated one…”

“What do you mean?”

“Misery hasn’t told you a lot about magic theory has she?” He shook his head and the alpha sighed. “Simple spells can be done with anyone with enough will power, and maybe a few words. More complicated spells require either magical ability or a ritual. The most complicated ones, like necromancy, require both. With practice, one can be dropped. Misery has more tattoos than you because she has become an expert at certain spells, and the incantation and ritual are written on her skin.”

“So if I can manage to do this, if I practice this a lot I can do it without going through all of the hard stuff?”

The alpha nodded. “Yes. Healing magic is very important, which is why it’s so unfortunate that Misery has always failed at it. Too many of her friends have died from wounds another mage could’ve healed.”

“Misery… she sometimes mentions things she’s done. I don’t know if I should believe her.”

“She’s a very good liar, but most of it’s true. Since the first fake ID she got, she’s been flying around the world trying to find… I don’t really know what she’s been looking for, but I just know that I’ve gone to her room to talk to her, and found a note with nothing but a city name on it.”

Stiles glanced out to the living room and sighed.

“You should ask her about it. I know she’s always wanted to tell you.” Vanessa’s smile was gently as she gripped his shoulder. “Come on, let’s figure this spell out so you guys don’t have to lose anyone else.”

The Sheriff came home at a reasonable time of about 11, and Misery was still doing homework on the couch. He walked into the kitchen just in time to see Vanessa plunge their best kitchen knife through her hand. Stiles glanced at his dad then back at the werewolf. “Uh… we’re just…”

David put his hands up and back out of the kitchen. “I’m going to go to bed, before you realize that healing magic doesn’t work on werewolves and start looking for someone else to hack up.”

“Wait… What?” Vanessa’s hand started healing, but a few drops of blood made it to the floor as she turned toward him. “I never knew that.”

“Well now you do.” Then he was gone and Vanessa was leaning over the back of the couch.

“You want him to learn this spell?”

Misery looked up at her godmother and sighed. She got up from couch, heading into the kitchen. “Here.”

Stiles watched her ball her fist and a cut form across her tattoos on her extended arm. “Did you just magically cut yourself?”

“Yeah. I figured it out on my own when I was in a pretty deep rut. I can heal _myself_ fine though if you can’t manage the spell.”

He rolled his eyes as her and rubbed his hands together before starting the spell again. As the last word left his mouth the cut on Misery’s arm healed and she looked at him, nodding slightly. Stiles couldn’t help but grin before she punched his shoulder and headed up the stairs.

“Do not hurt yourself to practice!” He heard her say from the stairs.

Stiles grumbled and waved at Vanessa as she tried to quietly sneak out the door. He headed upstairs and threw himself onto his bed, waiting for Misery to crawl in next to him.


	25. Can't Bring Up

The next morning, Stiles woke up, his heart still racing from the nightmare that was slowly fading. Cecil stared at him from where he was sitting on Misery’s pillow. Stiles sighed and reached out to scratch the cat’s head; Cecil gladly accepted it for a short while. When he bit the boy, Stiles knew that he should probably get ready for school.

When he got downstairs, Misery threw a granola bar at him as she downed a mug of coffee. He did a double take as he opened it. “Are you wearing a dress?”

She glared at him and sat the empty mug down with a loud bang. He put a hand up defensively as he stuffed his face.

Stiles had pulled out of the driveway and Misery glanced at him. “You had a nightmare last night.”

He looked at her. “So did you, didn’t you?”

Nodding, she scratched at her arm with the tattoo. “I don’t remember it though. You?”

“No.” She didn’t respond and he gripped the steering wheel harder. “You think they were the same?”

“Doubt it. We have very different incarnations of our fears.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’re both terrified of losing the people we love, but how we envision it are so different. You see yourself pushing the knife through them yourself, that dark fox-ish grin on your face.”

“What do you envision?”

“Being held back while being forced to watch someone else do it.”

That’s when that line of conversation dropped. Stiles tried to think of ways to ask her what he wanted to, but he couldn’t until they were pulling into the parking lot at school. She got out of the Jeep and rushed into the building, likely on a straight path to Isaac. Stiles got out and went on a straight B-line to Scott.

The alpha was in Vanessa’s classroom, animatedly asking the older alpha questions. Vanessa sat at her desk and smiled at him as he asked. “A good question, Scott. Unfortunately it is not a question another alpha can answer for you.”

Stiles watched his best friend’s face drop. As Vanessa continued. “It depends completely on how you want to keep your pack in order, what relationship you want to have with them, and them with others. Every pack has different dynamics, and it’s up to the alpha to determine what they’re going to be and how to achieve them.”

Stiles cleared his throat. “But how do you keep your pack dynamic?”

Scott looked up at him, looking a little shocked. Vanessa just looked over at him. “Well, for many years, I used your dear cousin, asking the branches of my pack to keep an eye out for her safety. But my pack is very different from other packs, as we have branch packs, but the main part of my pack is pretty normal-ish…”

Snorting, Stiles sat down next to Scott. “Oh yeah? What exactly constitutes a normal pack of werewolves?”

“Community with a hierarchy. While there is a distinct progression of who can give orders to who, which can be earned by birth order or merit, all of us help each other despite any position.” Vanessa leaned forward across the desk. “Most of my central pack are related, my cousin is my current heir.”

“Like the Hale pack?” Scott tilted his head curiously.

“Talia Hale was a large influence on me. She was my legal guardian during my first few years as an alpha.”

The bell rang and she sighed, standing up. “Come on your two. Go get to class.”

Scott got up, but Stiles stayed where he was. Vanessa smiled as she walked over to him. “Just ask her out right. She probably won’t lie to you, unless she’s been doing it so long that it’s engrained in her brain.”

Stiles sighed and waved at her as he moved into the hall.

Misery was leaning against the Jeep when he walked out of the school. Isaac was already in the back seat. He walked over, waving for Lydia to go to her own car and stop bugging him.

“We’re going out for an early dinner.”

“With Isaac?” Stiles glared through the windshield at the blond windshield.

“And Derek. Double dates are apparently cute.” She shrugged and got in the Jeep. Stiles made a small high pitched noise and moved to the passenger seat. He opened his mouth to ask Misery things, but Isaac opened his mouth and spent the entire car ride complaining. Misery glanced back at her soulmate occasionally with a fond but exasperated smile.

“You guys are going to have painfully blond and annoying children.” Stiles mumbled as he pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant he was directed to. Misery glanced at him and he was unsure what her face was trying to tell him as Isaac mocked him and Derek’s future kids.

A shiver went through Stiles’ spine thinking about having kids with Derek. Misery’s unreadable face turned to a grin like she knew something about him and Derek having kids, like it was possible for them to legitimately to have kids together. That thought sent a jolt go down his spine this time.

Stiles and Isaac were perfectly happy to sit in the car and wait for Derek, but Misery got out of the Jeep and headed inside. The two boys glanced at each other before groaning and following her in.

They were silent as they continually told the waitress that they were waiting for someone else before they could order. Stiles stared across the table at his cousin, still trying to ask her everything he wanted to know. Again, he was cut off by Derek sitting down next to him and gently kicking his foot.

“Hey, sorry I’m late.” Derek huffed.

Misery smiled at him. “It’s fine, just hurry up and figure out what you want to order.”


	26. Double

After the four of them ordered, they sat in awkward silence. Misery finally rolled her eyes and glanced at Derek. He looked back at her.

“This was your idea.”

“Technically it was Vanessa’s.” Misery sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. Her eyes wandered to Stiles. “I know you have some burning questions, cousin.”

Stiles choked on his drink and glanced at Isaac, who was looking at the desserts case across the restaurant. “What? I’m not…”

“I don’t have super wolf hearing, but I’m not deaf Stiles.” Misery leaned across the table, staring at him. “Just spit out what you’ve been meaning to ask me.”

“It’s not just one thing… you promised me you’d tell me about your life, but your really haven’t said anything… that made a lot of sense.”

She stared at him for a while before snorting. “Yeah, I haven’t… We’ve been a little busy lately. What do you want to know about specifically, because you don’t want to know all the intimate details. Sometimes my travels involve me sitting in lotus position for weeks learning a new method through meditation. I don’t recommend it if you have anywhere to be. I always spend a lot of time in my shop selling old books and being a consultant.”

“What kind of consulting work do you do?” Isaac said, suddenly interested in the conversation.

“ ‘How do you slay a dragon?’ ‘I just emailed you a pic of a plant that I just ate. It is poisonous to vampires?’” She sighed. “The emissary for the most power pack in France is the biggest idiot I have ever met. I’ve actually sent her three texts today explaining to her how to identify if a werewolf has wolfsbane poisoning.”

Derek snorted and picked up his glass. “I remember one time someone did the exact opposite of what you asked, so you turned my and Laura’s kitchen into a magical operating room for like two weeks.”

Misery just nodded. “People are stupid.”

“Wait… you two knew each other before? Why didn’t you mention it?” Stiles looked defeated. It shouldn’t’ve surprised her honestly.

The two looked between each other and both shrugged. Derek spoke. “It wasn’t until after we started training together that I recognized her. The look in her eyes when she does magic is terrifying.”

Misery grinned slightly before looking at Stiles. “I was trying to keep things from you, if I told you I knew a werewolf what would you have thought..?”

“Can we just stop keeping secrets from me?” Stiles groaned, letting his face fall onto the table. Derek replied with an immediate ‘sure’, but Misery looked uncomfortable with that.

“What the big deal with just telling him the truth, Mis. You guys are family?” Isaac looked at her, obviously confused.

“It has nothing to do with Stiles. I lie so much that I have a hard time telling the truth. I think I need to see a shrink.” She pursed her lips. “Actually, I think we could _all_ use a shit ton of therapy…”

The three males all had various expressions across the table, but they all boiled down to a raging ‘hell no.’

Her gaze first landed accusingly on Derek. “When was the last time you woke up desperately trying to tear Kate off you?” When he huffed, she smirked and leaned closer. “Or ripping open the doors to your fiery basement, too late? Or the two betas you lost? You need help Der.”

When she looked at Stiles, he sighed. “Fine.”

“We can’t exactly tell a normal person our problems, Misery.” Isaac glared at her.

“I’m pretty sure Duc’s emissary was a shrink. If I’m not mistaken she’s still in town.”

“Yeah, working at Eichen house.”

“Well, if you pay someone like her enough, she’ll do house calls.”

They all just stared at her until the waitress brought out the food. They all ate in silence until Misery’s phone started singing a sickeningly cheerful song.

“Yo Char, what’s the problem?”

Both of the wolves looked at her. Stiles sighed, wishing he had superhearing to listen in on phone calls.

“Yes, it was either a vision or Claire.” Misery put her hand on her forehead. “I’m suddenly physic… No, no I’m joking…”

Isaac snorted as he took another fork full, his ear still turned toward the phone. Stiles almost fell out of his chair when the two werewolves both stood up and were in their fight or flight poses.

“Not now, otherwise this conversation would be with the banshee not the oracle.” Misery said in a soothing voice as she reached out for her soulmate’s hand. Stiles looked to his cousin for answers. “Charlotte saw Scott dying.”

Stiles then stood up too, pulling an annoyed sigh out of Misery as he did. “We need to…”

“Not panic. He’ll be fine…” She turned her attention back to the phone conversation. “Hey, have Claire text me the details. Having it written will be better for me anyway. Thanks.”

The three boys were still standing. “Will you sit down? I’m not going to let Scott die.”

Slowly, they all sat down. Derek was still pretty ansy.

“You don’t even like Scott.” Stiles looked confused.

“I like him enough to not want him to die terribly.”

“But healing magic doesn’t work on werewolves.”

“That’s not really going to be an issue.”

“What?” Isaac looked defensive as he leaned towards her. “You going to let him die and then bring him back?”

“No. Non-humans are too hard to pull from the other side. Purgatory has the security feature of being incredibly hard to find.”

“Then how?” Derek crossed his arms.

“A lot of teamwork, ingenuity, and a couple of spells that will get my name back on the secret government agency that is in charge of policing the supernaturals’ most wanted list.”

“Why couldn’t it be because Scott’s a powerful alpha and he can shake off anything?” Stiles groaned.

“Because what’s the fun of that?”

“I’m going to go call Scott and tell him to be really careful and not be alone.” Isaac said, standing up and glancing at the door.

Misery nodded at him before giving her cousin a wicked grin. Stiles coughed under her gaze and took a sip of his drink. When Isaac came back in, she turned to Derek. “Can you take Isaac home? There’s something Stiles and I should go do.”

“What do we need to do?”

“Visit the giant, magic tree stump.”


	27. Down Time

Stiles leaned against one of the smaller trees, staring at the Nematon warily as his cousin walked around it, jumped up on it, ran her hands over it. “Are you done yet?”

She shushed him as her hand glowed white and the light ran over the rough surface. Smiling, she looked up at him. He just groaned. “We’ve been here for like an hour. How long is this going to take?”

“It’d go quicker if you helped me.”

“I don’t even know what you’re doing.”

“Making friends. If it has someone it can trust among people, it’ll be a lot nicer.”

“I helped wake it up. Isn’t that making friends enough?”

“No. You did that for Uncle, not for it.” She looked up at him with frown. “But if you’re not going to help, and you’re that bored, I can come back some other time, without you.”

“No, no! By all means, continue talking to the magic tree stump. It’s not like I have math homework to do or anything.”

“I know you have a Mario Kart date with Scott, don’t try to pull the homework card.” She stood up and walked over to him. “Come on.”

The next two weeks had no supernatural issues, other than Stiles setting Lydia’s hair on fire while he was practicing a new spell. Some days, Misery sat in the back yard, yelling at him about magic. Others she disappeared into the forest, with Isaac or without. Sometimes Derek came over. While the man was there, there were usually make outs, sass, and Derek complaining about having Stiles for a soulmate. Stiles really wasn’t complaining about the new turn of his life, but his best friend certainly was.

Scott looked angry during lunch, his eyes trained on Misery where she was standing and talking to some girls she was working on a project with. Stiles followed Scott’s gaze and sighed. “So the one person you decide not to trust is my cousin?”

“What?” Scott shook his head and looked at Stiles. “How much longer is this going to go on?”

“You mean my cousin living with me and bringing the pack together?”

“What do you mean ‘bringing the pack together’?”

“Malia’s listening to you! Lydia’s been practicing with her abilities. Isaac is almost acting like a normal person.”

“Stiles, she’s… she’s not one of us.”

“Are you talking about? Dude, her and Lydia go shopping together. Her and Kira practice fighting. I think Malia would be willing to take a hit for her. Derek and her talk about crazy shit. And Isaac is head over heels for her. Dude, your mom loves her.”

Scott just scoffed, dropping the subject when Isaac and Misery sat down. The blond wolf glared at his alpha, but Misery just smiled at Scott. The other girls sat down too, Lydia cleared her throat, obviously noticing the tension.

“The lacrosse season will be starting again soon. Are the three of you going to be doing lacrosse again?” She asked, her eyes landed on Jackson who was sitting across the cafeteria with Danny and some of the other sports stars.

Misery groaned and planted her face on the table. “You’re joking right? You guys play sports? Are you trying to kill someone?”

Scott glared at her and opened his mouth to yell at her. But she just rolled her eyes. “Two barely trained werewolves, an inexperienced mage, and an alpha that has no fucking balls.”

The alpha’s eyes were turning red as he stood up. Misery started standing up two, her hands starting to glow. Before either of them could do anything, Vanessa was walking over and taking them both by their ears. “You two in my classroom, right now.”

They both whimpered in pain as they rubbed their ears, glaring at the woman. Vanessa just put her hand on her hip, staring at them until they started walking.

Vanessa made both of them sit down as she leaned against her desk. They opened their mouths to explain themselves, but she flashed red eyes at them.

“You two need to get along. You’re part of the same pack.” They both protested, but she put up a finger. “You are. And very important members. The alpha and the most knowledgeable. If you two can’t get along, your pack will fall to chaos. I have seen many packs crumble when the alpha and emissary cannot come to an agreement, the pack will become divided and perish.”

“Woah, woah, hold the phone, she’s not my emissary!” Scott stood up, banging a fist on the desk.

“For once I agree with him.” Misery glared at her legal guardian. “Stiles…”

“Has neither the patience or the knowledge to be an emissary. He’s also connected to Scott by familiar bonds, making an emissary position impossible.”

“Deaton?”

“Already lost one pack. While he’s been helping Scott, he likely doesn’t want the responsibility.” Vanessa waved at Scott for him to sit back down. “You two need to work out your differences.”

Misery stood up then. “No way. I refuse. I’d rather go back to Siberia with your cousin’s pack.”

“Yuri said that if you’re ever in Russia again, he’d kill you.” Vanessa rolled her eyes and looked at Scott. “You two are going camping in the forest and you’re not coming back out until you can get along.”

“But what about school?” Scott frowned at Vanessa.

“Try to get along before the beginning of next week. I’ll pick you both up at your respective homes two hours after school lets out.”

The two both stood up, going opposite ways down the hallway. The rest of the pack were almost relieved when they heard that the two were being grounded for the weekend.


	28. Camping Trip

Misery sat in the car in front of the McCall house, watching Vanessa go through Scott’s bag. She put seemingly everything onto the ground and handed him back the empty bag. The alpha looked scorned and confused. When he got in the car, he glared at her.

“What she leave you with?”

He pulled one thing out of his bag, a small camping pocket. “She even dumped my clothes out.”

“The pot was a good idea.”

“What were you allowed to bring?”

“Scott, why do we need anything between the two of us?”

“Food, maybe? Change of clothes? Water? Shelter?”

“Hunting. Seriously? Streams. Get over it.” Misery looked out of the window. “If you don’t act like too much of a pansy and don’t piss me off, we’ll only be out there for two days.”

“What do you mean I should get over not having a shelter? Do you know what’s in those woods?”

“You’re a werewolf Scott, please don’t tell me that you’re afraid of a couple bunny rabbits.”

Vanessa glanced back at them. “Not everyone has the extensive survival skills you do Misery.”

“Maybe after Scott and I are finished with our Camping Trip, we should make everyone do this. Make it a competition.”

“Malia would win.”

“She lived in her full form for years, she’d have no idea how to take care of her human form in the woods for more than a few hours. You guys made her soft.”

“I’m sorry we’re trying to…”

Scott stopped talking as the car stopped at the edge of the forest. Vanessa smiled at them. “You’re going to go in until Scott can’t hear the car anymore.”

The walked in silence, stopping ever so often so Scott could listen. Finally, Scott sat on a fallen tree and stared up at her. She looked around. “I’ll make a fire.”

It was getting dark by the time the two of them opened their mouths to talk to each other. Misery was lying next to her fire and Scott was still sitting defiantly on the fallen tree.

“I’m getting hungry.” Scott glanced over at her and she snorted, prodding the fire with a stick.

“Then go find us something to eat. You’re the one with the super senses and claws.” She glared at him. He looked horrified. “Too much of a goodie-goodie to kill a baby bunny rabbit?”

“Why do you want to kill everything?”

“Why can’t you kill anything?” She stood up and stared at him. “You think you’re hands are clean just because you refuse to kill people?”

“I-…”

“You’re a true alpha, I get it, but you could let other people do the dirty work. Every supernatural psychopath you let live, the people they kill are now your responsibility.” She took a few steps towards him. “Knowing that you could’ve prevented the deaths of innocent is worse than killing the guilty.”

Scott stood up to glare at her. “I have…”

“A responsibility to your pack and this town. Scott, you’re an alpha and you have to make tough choices. Killing isn’t always the answer, but sometimes it is and you have to recognize that.”

“You have no idea what it’s like to make those choices.”

“Yes I do. Would you have killed Stiles if it was the only way to get rid of the nogistune?”

Scott stared at her and then looked away. “Would have you?”

“No, because I know how to get a kitsune out of a human host. I’m surprised Deaton didn’t call me.” Then she turned away. “If you’re not going to get us dinner, I’ll go.”

Scott grabbed her arms, his eyes glowing red. “No, I have the claws.”

When he came back, dropping the rabbit’s corpse next to where she was carving a point into a stick with a knife, she smirked up at him. “How does it feel to have actual blood on your hands?”

He glared at her and wiped off his hands on a particularly large leaf. “We’re only going to be out here a few days, she could’ve let us bring food.”

“That’s a decent point, but Vanessa knows we’re not going to die out here, unless we kill each other.” She put down the stick and picked up the rabbit, starting to skin and gut it.

“I wouldn’t kill you.” Scott sighed.

“Of course not, you’re a goody two shoes, and if you killed me your best friend would die.”

“Would you kill me?”

“If I had to.” She stabbed her sharped stick through her skinned and cleaned rabbit, positioning it over the fire. “Vanessa wants us to get along. She doesn’t give a damn if we like each other, we just need to develop a grudging respect.”

“Why does she care about our relationship?”

“Because you’re young and powerful, two things that don’t mix well with sentimentality. She also knows those things don’t mix well with being an uncaring bitch. We balance each other, and that’s something our pack could need.”

“Our pack?”

“Vanessa doesn’t maintain the biggest pack on the planet by being an idiot. She knows that I’m sticking around here, and she knows there isn’t a better choice for your emissary.”

“We’re getting along then.” Scott stared at her as she poked at the meat. “We can go home.”

“Nope. You’re stick too much of a baby. We’re about to face an apocalypse, you need to be willing to kill people and let people die.”

“Misery, you can’t expect me…”

She stood up. “Enjoy your dinner and think about it for a while. Come find me when you change your mind.” The she was disappearing into the trees. He could still smell and hear her, but she made it pretty far away from him.

He groaned, taking the stick the rabbit was on. As he ate he listened for Misery. She seemed to be just laying around wherever she had moved to. Then separating was against the point Vanessa was trying to make.

They both fell asleep on the forest floor, several yards away from each other. Scott woke up to the feeling of being watched. He opened his eyes slowly and glanced at the dead fire, then to the other side of him. Peter grinned at him. “What are you doing out here Scott?”

“I could ask you the same question.” Scott looked at him suspiciously.

“At least you’re suspicious of someone.” Misery’s voice came from where she was standing against a tree. “Why’d you let my fire go out?”

He turned to her and sighed. She turned away, mumbling about more firewood.

“She’s so much like her. Why are you two out here? I didn’t think you’d be fast friends to go on trips together.”

“Vanessa wants us to get along better. Misery thinks I’m too soft.”

“Vanessa’s in town? I must go pay her a visit.” Peter mused before standing up. “But Misery’s probably right, sometimes you need to kill people in order to protect more. It’s a really simple idea.”

“That doesn’t mean much coming from a mass murderer.”

Peter just chuckled and started walking away.

Scott stared at him until Peter was out of his sight and Misery was walking back into view. She started arranging the logs.

“Let’s leave in the morning.” He said, moving to help her.

“Nope.”

“Why is our place to choose who lives or dies?”

She just smiled at him, her tattoos glowing red as the pieces of wood started to blaze.

“Can we talk about it before you go around killing people?”

“What if they’re holding a gun to my head?”

“We’ll see.”

“Alright, let’s leave when the sun comes up.”


	29. Purgatory

The sun had barely pierced the canopy of the forest as they walked towards the road. It was silent except for the birds and Misery’s cell phone dinging alerting her to text message after text message. “Apparently we’re in a service area again.”

Scott just snorted as she read over the texts. She kept making distressed noises. He raised an eyebrow at her before tackling her to the ground. Misery heard the bang of a gun as she was falling to the forest floor, her phone flying out of her hand and landing out of reach.

As Scott got off of her, Misery heard a female laugh. She turned and saw a girl their age, carrying a sawed-off rifle in one hand and a length of rope in the other. The werewolf was growling as he held in his wolf side. Misery stood up slowly, staying behind Scott.

“Word on the street is, you ain’t immortal no more Misery.” The girl said with a southern twang and a shit-eating grin. “There are contracts going out on you left and right.”

“And who is paying the most for my head?”

“Old Lady Wioleta. She’s paying out 15 million on you alive. The werewolf, I’m going to kill for free.”

Scott let his fangs and claws come out, as Misery sighed behind him. “She still wants to sacrifice me huh?”

“Oh yes.” The girl pointed the gun at Scott, still looking at Misery. “It’ll be a shame though, I’ll miss you.”

As the gun went off, Scott saw white light and heard a loud whooshing sound. He thought he was about to die, but he didn’t feel any pain. As the light disappeared and he could hear again, the forest minus the girl trying to kill them appeared before them. The alpha turned to Misery who looked very distraught.

Scott asked Misery a few times where they were before she put her hand over his mouth, looking around. She shushed him as she patted herself down slightly. “Damn, no weapons.”

“Misery… What do you need weapons for?”

“We’re in purgatory. You died.” Misery sighed as she was still scanning the tree line. “We need to get moving.”

“Whoa? What!?” Scott asked, rather loudly. “I’m dead? Then how are you…”

“Necromancer, remember? Traveling through the realms of death is sort of my specialty, I just grabbed onto the reaper that took you.” She rolled her eyes at him before she started walking. “You’re going to need to do most of the fighting until we get out of here. I don’t have magic in here.”

“How exactly are you planning on getting us out of here?” He took a few quick steps to catch up with her before he stopped again, wolfing out as he turned and caught the broad side of a crude blade with his clawed hand. Growling at the person, who Misery would later tell Scott was a vampire, he pulled the blade from his hand and pushed him down.

Misery took the blade from the werewolf’s hand and bent to cut off the head of the aggressor. Scott opened his mouth to protest but threw the blade behind him, the squeal of a second person in his ear as the monster fell to the ground. “Either we kill, or we’re killed. I don’t want to know where you go when you die in Purgatory. Let’s get moving.”

As they walked, Scott looked around, wondering how long they’d be walking. Misery, as if reading his mind, glanced at him. “Months. We’re walking to Maine.”

“MAINE?”

“Will you please stop shouting? I’m attracting enough attention without you yelling.” Misery glared at him as they stopped. “Humans aren’t exactly a common meal for these monsters once they get here.”

Scott blinked at her, not saying anything as he processed what everything meant. “Other dead werewolves are here?”

“Yes. And vampires, rugarus, wendigos, djinn, ghouls, kitsune, and a shit ton of other monsters.” She looked around, heading in a slightly different direction than they had been moving. “So if you want to look for any of your old friends, they’re probably already gone. It’s best if we just keep moving.”

“What about everyone else, back…”

“They’ll know you’re dead. What they’ll think about me, I don’t know. Char saw your death, but didn’t send me the details until this morning. This could’ve been prevented.”

“What about Stiles, aren’t you technically dead?”

“No. Being in the world of the dead and being dead are very different as far as our bond is concerned. You and Stiles bond that bothers me more. Losing a familiar can be traumatic, especially how much you affect his magic.”

Silence and talking were punctuated by other monsters attacking them. Scott had trouble with dealing a final blow, but Misery was more than happy to remove people’s innards. Vanessa only wanted them to get to know each other better for a few days, but they were spending months perfecting a fighting routine. It also allowed Misery to give Scott firsthand knowledge on the supernatural that didn’t already have.

“So how exactly are you going get both of out of here?” Scott asked while they were resting a few weeks into the murder fest. Misery was exhausted from constantly having to save the alpha.

“There’s a spell, that anyone can do, that will allow me to take your soul through the portal. The portal is for humans, without the spell you’d be stuck here.”

“How do you know that?”

She let her head fall back against the tree she was leaning against, staring up at the grey sky. “I’ve tried it before. After Rose died, I came here, looking for her, but even powerful banshees don’t last long here. I helped the person who helped me get to the portal back to the living world in return.”

“I’m sorry…”

“You know, by the time we get out of this fucking place, you’re going to know more about me than Stiles does.” She stood up and grinned at him. “He’s going to be so pissed.”

Scott stood away from the tree he was leaning on, laughing. “What do you think he’s doing right now?”

“His ass better be training.”


	30. Other Side

Lydia was screaming, Stiles was fainting, Charlotte was sighing, and everyone else was looking at each other. The sheriff and Vanessa both came in, the human a little quicker than his werewolf counterpart.

“What happened?” The sheriff asked as the alpha plugged one of her ears with her pinkie.

“Scott died.” Charlotte commented nonchalantly as Lydia finally stopped screaming and started sobbing.

Derek was inspecting the unconscious Stiles when he looked between Charlotte and Vanessa. “Why don’t you two look concerned?”

“Because he was a very powerful necromancer at the time?” Vanessa stared back at him. “If I know Misery, the two of them are probably trekking around purgatory.”

Everyone in the room stared at her, hoping to get more information.

“According to Misery, purgatory’s  little different than all the other dead realms. It wasn’t made for humans, so there’s a magic door to let humans out, which happens to be in the Maine portion of the thing.” Charlotte happily supplied.

“Maine as in the state.” Vanessa then clarified.

“What about Scott though? He can’t just walk through the portal, can he?” Kira pouted and took a break from soothing Lydia’s hair.

“Misery’s got that covered.” Charlotte and Vanessa looked very adamant about that fact.

“What about Stiles?” The sheriff then looked at the two women.

“I’m going to make a call…” Vanessa pulled her cell out of her pocket and walked out of the house.

Derek moved Stiles up to his room while most of the rest of the pack headed to their own houses. Isaac stayed, trying to help the sheriff figure out the best way to tell Melissa the temporary news.

Cecil walked in, looking like he had been napping. Derek opened his mouth but Cecil just smiled through his yawn. “I’m hyperaware of where Misery is right now. Scott dying must’ve hit Stiles hard. When he wakes up, he’s going to have a hard time controlling his magic.”

“How is he supposed to…” Derek groaned, not even knowing what he was asking.

“Is Vanessa calling people?” When the werewolf nodded Cecil smiled. “That’s your answer. Someone she calls is going to be able to help him and be free for a few months.”

“Months?!”

“It’s a long trek. Then she has to find Scott’s body. The person that attacked them probably took it.” Cecil looked down at Stiles. “Vanessa’s probably going to ask around and see who was trying to kill Misery, or Scott, probably Misery.”

“What do we do until…” Derek once again was at a loss for words. There were so many untils that it seemed impossible to list them all.

“We wait.” Cecil then took a step towards the door, turning into his cat form mind stride.

About an hour later, Vanessa came upstairs and stared at Stiles. Derek had heard Stilinski and Isaac leave before that, heading to the McCall house. He looked up at the woman hoping she’d say something instead of inspecting her godson.

“Where does your uncle live?” She asked without looking at him.

“Peter?” He frowned, knowing that Peter wasn’t the most trustworthy person in Beacon Hills he wasn’t sure why Vanessa would want to see him. “Why?”

“He knows something I find myself needing to know. It’s urgent that I speak with him.” She finally looked at him.

“What is it, that he knows?”

“Where Cynthia is. She’s apparently in town.”

Derek looked confused but sighed, giving her directions to his uncle’s apartment. Without saying another word, she was gone.

When Vanessa entered Peter’s apartment, he was sitting on his sofa, drinking a mug of tea. He smiled at her but she seemingly ignored him as she looked around the room.

“It’s been awhile, _Alpha Lucian._ May I offer you a cup of tea?”

“Where’s Cynthia?” It was more of a demand than a question.

“I thought you knew, you were at the funeral right? She’s in Beacon Hills Cemetery.” He didn’t even crack under his sarcasm, despite Vanessa’s red eyes boring a hole in his skull.

“Who is she possessing in town? She wouldn’t come to Beacon Hills without seeing you first.”

“Why would she come see me? What was I to her?”

“It doesn’t matter what you were, it matters that you’re both murderous psychopaths.” Vanessa turned, getting annoyed at the beta’s antics. “I liked you better while you were in a coma.”

“Going so soon? I thought you wanted to know where your long lost best friend was.” Peter was standing now, drumming his fingers together like a stereotypical villain. “She’s been here for quite a while, since I’ve woken up from my coma actually, but hiding in the shadows of someone’s mind, someone close to Stiles.”

She turned to glare at him from the side of her eyes and he just grinned at her. “A woman obviously.”

“Hmm. Someone that is the same as someone that apparently used to be close to Misery.”

Vanessa blew out a breath and shook her head. “Of course…” She started walking out when Peter called one last think.

“She looks so much like her mother, but she’s so much more dangerous than her mother ever was in life.”

“Stay away from my goddaughter if you don’t want to die for a third time Hale.”

When she got back to the Stilinski house, she was yelling at the owner that she needed salt and a lot of it as she ran up stairs. “Derek, call the red head and tell her to be here in like half an hour.”

The wolf asked a few questions, not getting answers as Vanessa rummaged through Misery’s room. He eventually got a hold of an annoyed Lydia. When he got off the phone, he headed downstairs to find Vanessa drawing on the floor with chalk. The sheriff looked annoyed, holding a box of salt and mumbling about his floor.

“What are you doing?”

“According to your uncle, my sister is possessing Lydia, and has been for a while.” The sheriff didn’t look happy about those prospects. Derek looked shocked, staring down at the other wolf.

“We’re going to exorcise her from the redhead.” Vanessa said as she touched up a few lines before carefully fixing the rug over the circle.

“Is it going to hurt her?”

“Exorcising your average hell spawn is painless, unless you torture the demon first.” Vanessa shrugged, taking the journal off the coffee table and flipping through the pages. When she stopped flipping, there was a knock on the door. The three of them all sighed before Derek went to go get the door.


	31. Sibling Rivals

“What?” Lydia asked, standing just outside of the circle drawn under the rug. Her eye makeup was still messed up from crying and her was tapping her foot. “I just left like an hour ago?”

“We’re going to try to contact Misery and Scott on the other side. Banshees make good conduits for talking to the other side.” Vanessa said, flipping between a few pages in Misery’s journal.

“I’d sit down, because Rose used to get pretty woozy when Misery used her for this kind of shit.” Charlotte tapped on the back of the kitchen chair in the center of the circle.

“Alright.” Lydia threw her hands up and took a step into the circle finally. “Anything to check on Scott and Misery…”

 Once Lydia was completely in the circle, something about her stance changed and black eyes turned to Vanessa. Her voice was different, higher, when she spoke. “So you spoke to Peter?”

“It’s pretty sad that you get trapped in pentagrams so often that you know when you’re in one instantly.” Vanessa grabbed Charlotte to pull her out of the demon’s reach.

Lydia’s eyes returned to normal, but it was obvious it was still the demon in control. She turned to the Sheriff who was standing in the corner. “Hello big brother, it’s been a while hasn’t it?”

“You’re no sister of mine, not anymore.” He didn’t even look at her. “Why don’t you make this easy on yourself and leave Lydia?”

The demon pursed Lydia’s lips and hummed. “Perhaps. I quite like this one, and so do Misery and Stiles. And if I do leave, where should I go?”

“How about back to hell?” Charlotte glared in her general direction.

“You think we can let you stay? I’m not letting you get anywhere near Misery or Stiles.” Vanessa had set down the book and was now staring at her former friend.

“They need me, don’t you see? I’m the only protection they have, and you don’t even know from what.”

“The only thing they need protection from is you, Cynthia.” The Sheriff took a few steps towards the circle. “You’ve already done enough to Misery, I won’t let you hurt her anymore.”

“You have no idea what I’ve done to that girl and you’re not going to stop me.”  She grinned at him, walking to the edge of the circle. “They need my help. Beyond the type of protection, I can offer then that no one else can they need someone like me. They’re both so good, but they need their darkness too. They need it, and I can help them. If they want to keep the world from falling apart, they can’t unleash it full force like I did, but they need it, they need the balance.”

“Bullshit.” Vanessa snorted and crossed her arms. “What could possible know about anything?”

“You’d be surprised, you learn a lot about this kind of shit in hell, and in heaven. I’m not so cocky to think they just need me.” She looked over at her brother again, who was glaring at her. “In fact, I think you’ll help me David. None of you have the oomph needed to cast me out and you’re all so concerned about this little girl.”

“What do you mean the oomph?” Vanessa looked down at the open page. “We don’t need oomph.”

“Those probably aren’t even what you’re looking for. Misery deals with enough of my kind that she doesn’t need to write it down. Can you read Latin, old friend? Even if it is right, pronunciation is everything. This little banshee is the only one that can read Latin.”

“I guess you forget that I know Latin, Cynthia.” The sheriff picked up the book in front of the werewolf. “Give me one good reason why we shouldn’t send you back to hell?”

“Where else are you supposed to get your information about Stiles and Misery’s little destiny problem? I can help, all you have to do is let me in. It’s up to you when I’m out and when it’s you. You’re strong enough David, I know you can fight me.”

Everyone’s eyes were on the sheriff as she stared at the possessed Lydia. It was a while before finally shut Misery’s journal. “Smoke out of Lydia. No funny stuff.”

She winked at him before opening Lydia’s mouth and letting smoke pour out onto the floor. Vanessa surged forward to catch a falling Lydia as the sheriff kicked up the carpet to erase some of the circle. The smoke moved to David, circling him before entering his mouth. His head tilted and his eyes turned black.

“I promise I’ll always keep them black when I’m in charge so you don’t get confused.” Her words sounded strange with her brother’s voice.

Vanessa was glaring at her as she was listening very carefully to Lydia’s vitals. “Don’t think this means I’m not watching you carefully.”

“I’ll remember that. And don’t think that I don’t still consider us friends.” Then the black faded from the eyes. The sheriff’s body’s entire stance and expression changed. “I have my crazy sister in my head, this’ll take some getting used to.”

“If you need any advice, feel free to ask your son. I’ve heard he’s had some experience with possession.” Vanessa picked up Lydia and moved her to the couch.

“You and Misery hear about everything that goes on in Beacon Hills?” The sheriff sat down and rubbed his head. “Because I’m going to be honest, all of this would’ve been easier if I remembered.”

“Take that up with your sister. And you can now, she’s stuck in your head, you kind of can’t avoid her.” Vanessa smiled at him. “But not everything, just the things that Peter Hale or Deaton thought me and Misery should know. They always had different reasons. I usually tell Misery anything that wouldn’t make her come to Beacon Hills and rip out someone’s heart.”

The sheriff just raised an eye at her. She shook her head. Charlotte grinned. “I’ve been told by people with working eyes that it’s quite a sight.”

The two adults looked at her and she put her hands up. “I’m going to go check on Stiles.”

“The stairs are other way Char.” Vanessa sighed.

“I wish we could’ve actually checked in on Misery and Scott.” The sheriff said as he stood up. “I’m calling it a night.”

“If your little sister’ll let you sleep.”

“Keep an eye on Lydia, will you?”

“And one on Stiles. Get some sleep David.”


	32. Dragons

Stiles was different when he woke up. He was spacey and quiet. Even when Derek told him what happened, he just nodded and continued staring off into the distance. Vanessa said it was probably because of being cut off from Misery and Scott.

“Misery would want you to be training.” Vanessa said as she stood in the doorway of Misery’s room, where he was sitting on the bed, staring at the pictures on her dresser.

“I don’t even know if I could do magic right now. I’ve never felt like this before, so… so empty.” Stiles sighed, not bothering to glance at the werewolf.

“You’ll probably get used to the feeling by the time they make their way out of Purgatory, which sucks. Even when they do get out, Misery’ll have to find Scott’s body. Whoever attacked them took it with them.”

“So, this is what she didn’t want to tell me? That people kill her friends just to get to her?” Stiles put his face in his hands. “And I thought we had it bad here in Beacon Hills.”

“She makes a bit of a point in making enemies, I’ve tried to talk her out of it… but she just wants to learn everything she can, and save as many people as possible. Up until now, she’s had the perk of being immortal, she didn’t have to worry her about herself. Since Rose died, she’s had a hard letting people in, but your pack has been helping her back out of her shell.”

“The people you called, friends of Misery’s?”

“People that owe her, that I would trust to help you. The one I got ahold of, I think she’ll be especially helpful when she gets here.”

“I just want them back.”

Vanessa sighed and walked away with an agreement.

It was a few days later when Stiles met this person that Vanessa had called. Lydia had been driving him to and from school, since she was sure his hazy state would cause an accident. A girl with long white hair was leaning against Lydia’s car when they walked out of the school, blowing smoke rings.

Stiles walked over to her, and was shocked when wasn’t holding a cigarette to blow the rings. She pointed her yellow eyes, almond shaped eyes at him.

“You must be Misery’s cousin. I’m Kaida.” She had a Japanese accent.

“Stiles. So, you’re going to help me with my magic?” He glanced over at Lydia, who looked like she was too wary to approach her own car.

The girl hummed. “That is what Vanessa asked me to do. It will be difficult, as Misery was already so skilled when she sought what it is I can teach.”

“What is it you can teach me?”

“Old magic, very old magic. Where will we be going to do whatever?”

Kaida was blowing smoke rings out the back window of Lydia’s car. Lydia kept looking at her with the rearview mirror. “So, Kaida, how did you and Misery meet?”

“I was stuck, a witch many years ago trapped me in human form. Misery came looking for knowledge, but she helped me be able to switch between this form an my real shape. While I grew accostumed to humanity, it is… confining to be stuck like this.”

“What are you actually, if you don’t mind?”

She laughed. “I don’t mind. I’m a dragon.”

“Dragon?” Stiles turned around to stare at her with wide eyes. Lydia looked terrified and impressed as she looked back at the road.

“Yes. Asian dragons aren’t quite the same as our European cousins, but dragons are still the source of very old magic, so good to learn powerful spells from.”

“Are dragons…?”

“There are very few of us left these days, only four or five that I know of, through Misery. Most have moved from our homelands, to here in America, and most of us are alive because we had become human.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. What happens if you guys go…”

“Extinct? I don’t know. I’ve watched several supernatural creatures go extinct over the years, without much notice, but dragons… without dragons there are entire schools of magic that will no longer be able to be practiced.”

“That, that would suck, right?”

“Yes. Most magical power being used has its source in dragons. You and Misery get your power from the moon, but it would still limit some things that you’re able to learn on top of all that raw power. Not to mention, then all dragons would be extinct. I’m a little biased, but dragons are cool.”

Stiles laughed and Lydia looked over at him. It was the first time she’d heard him laugh since Misery and Scott had been gone, and even if it wasn’t the  his usual laugh, she’d take it.


	33. Almost Home

Months passed and nobody said they were giving up hope, but most of the pack had started thinking that Misery and Scott might never come back. Stiles still trained with Kaida, but he was still so distant from everyone. He didn’t talk to Derek or his dad. It was hard for everyone. No one wanted to do anything except bug Vanessa and Charlotte about ways they could help bring them back farther. Luckily the only supernatural problem they were faced with in those months was a ghost problem that was easily fixed by Vanessa, the Sheriff, and Lydia.

Finally at about one in the morning, Stiles woke up to a strange feeling. He flexed his hand and felt, more alive. He didn’t feel normal, but he felt better and it was a strange feeling. Almost an hour later his phone buzzed on his nightstand with an unknown number.

“Hello?” He tried to be quiet, as he knew his dad had just gotten asleep.

“Hey cousin.” Misery’s voice sounded relieved on the other side of the call. “How are things?”

“They… they’ve been tense. I… we all felt you and Scott disappearing pretty hard.” With a sigh, he glanced at his alarm clock. “Scott… is he…”

“I have to find his body. I need to get to his body. It’ll probably be a week or two until I can bring him and me home. You think you can hold on for a little longer with out us?”

“I feel better, now that you’re back in the land of the living.”

“Well, you should be as good as new as soon as Scott is no longer living in my forearm.” He could practically hear her smile. “Can you have Vanessa call me on this number when it’s not some ridiculous time in the morning?”

Once Stiles had agreed, she hung up. He groaned as he stared his phone, hoping she’d call back just to talk. She didn’t.

He woke up earlier than he usually did on a weekend and reached for his phone again, dialing Vanessa’s number from his contacts.

“Isn’t this a little early for you Stiles?” She chuckled to herself. “What’s up?”

“Misery called me, she’s back from purgatory. She wants you to call her.”

“I’ll be right over.”

Vanessa was true to her word and got there in record time. Stiles blinked at her a few times as he checked the time. She grinned at him. “I werewolf ran… instead of driving.”

“So, are you going to call her?”

“Maybe I shouldn’t. She did just spend several months running for her life. I’ve heard there isn’t much time for resting, much less sleeping in purgatory.” She shrugged. “Though, I should probably find out exactly where she is so I can wire her money and send her some help.”

“Yeah. Should I wait to tell Isaac until she’s on her way home?”

“That’s up to you Stiles. What do you think would be better for Isaac?”

“Just call her.” Stiles held his phone out to Vanessa with the number that Misery call up pulled up. Vanessa nodded and took the phone. She walked into the kitchen to talk to Misery. Stiles overheard parts the conversation, like a guy named Chris helping Misery, her being in Maine and going to Italy. He wished that whoever attacked them could’ve just left Scott’s body so she and him could just come home.

Vanessa held the phone back out to him. He took it and frowned. “Who is Misery going to be up against?”

“A old senile witch that has tried sacrificing Misery before. I hope she knows what she’s doing, it’s going to be dangerous. She isn’t immortal anymore.” Vanessa sat next to him on the couch. “I’ve never had to worry about her like this before.”

“Why does…”

“I’m not sure. Misery usually doesn’t give all the details, which I think she does so I don’t worry but…”

“If she does get sacrificed, I’m going to die too, right?”

“Yes. I wish we know more about the prophecy, it would really help to keep both of you safe.”

He didn’t mention Misery’s return from purgatory to anyone else and kept ignoring them. He occasionally sent a text to Misery to check on her, but Vanessa told him that she was likely out of service range. Stiles just wanted his cousin and best friend back.

Derek noticed a difference, and started coming by more often. He just sat on Stiles’ bed while he did homework or on grass while he practiced his magic. The werewolf’s presence was a slight comfort, more so than it had been the last few months. He occasionally snuggled up next to him, telling him to shut up.

Stiles was sitting in class, one of the last classes before the semester was over, when he felt entirely different. Almost complete, almost like brand new. He looked at the tattoo on his arm since it was tingling slightly. A smile spread across his face when he realized Scott was back.


	34. The Plan

When Scott opened his eyes, he was staring up at Misery. She looked tired and sad. His throat hurt as he tried to say something to her but nothing came out. Before he could work out his vocal chords, she was turning away, talking to someone else. She was ready, ready for what?

As she walked away, someone else came into his view, a man, a little older than him. “Can you walk? We should go.”

He tried speaking again but only a crackling sound came out. It was progress.

“So talking is a no go? Probably can’t walk either. Fuck.” The stranger continued swearing and Scott managed to look around. He couldn’t see Misery, but he could see that he was in a forest, not too unlike the woods in Beacon Hills.

“Where…?” He managed to get out, the man’s attention snapping back to him.

“Germany. Some forest in Germany. I wasn’t paying much attention while Misery was driving… Might be a problem when we leave.”

“What…?”

The girl who had shot him moved into his view. “Misery is paying the price the person who hired me set to bring you back. She’s gunna to be sacrificed to a nematon of knowledge.”

Scott managed to sit up and growl. Both of the people staring at him shared a glance before smiling. Now he was just confused.

“You only take a contract on a friend to save their lives.”

“Misery will be fine, she always is.” The guy said. “Come on, we really should go.”

“No, we need to help her.” Scott held his head. There was definitely time missing, Misery had to travel with his soul in her arm all the way to Germany.

“Maybe he’s right. We’ve already fucked up the plan enough…” The girl sighed.

“You fucked it up. You weren’t supposed to kill him, injure, sure, but not outright kill him.” The man was glaring at her. “Misery knows exactly what she’s doing.”

“You’re just blinded by the fact that you’re still madly in love with her.”

Scott growled again and the two looked back at him. They both sighed and moved to gather up their things. Scott managed to stand up, his legs ached though. Coming back from the dead was hard work.

“Marie.” The girl said as she walked back over to him, loaded to the teeth. “Hunter.”

“I’m Chris, shapeshifter.” The guy held up his hand as he repacked a bag.

“Shapeshifter?” Scott had only heard it as an over arching term of werewolves and the like.

“They can their form into any human form. If Chris wanted, they could look like you or me.” Marie explained, rolling her eyes.

“I’m…”

“Scott McCall, True Alpha.” They both said together, rolling their eyes. “Come on.”

They didn’t talk as they walked, Marie taking the lead through the forest. Scott just kept finding reasons to hate the woods. She made the two of them stop once Misery and an elderly woman were in front of a ginormous and obviously ancient tree: a nematon.

Misery was kneeling while the elderly woman waved around a knife and spouted magical bullshit. Scott tried to push forward, but he was still weak enough from being dead that the human girl was able to hold him back.

“We only go in if it looks like Misery’s not acting to plan.” Marie glared back at him. Scott huffed. He and Misery had a long talk about killing when necessary and he was ready to kill to protect her, after everything she did to bring him back.

They watched for a few more seconds before the old woman brought the knife down towards Misery’s chest. Misery brought her hands up, a pulse of energy pushing back the woman. A second pulse threw the woman to the ground as Misery stood up. Instead of walking over to the woman, she walked to the knife that had flown a few feet away.

“You never knew what this tree wanted from you. It never wanted you to take a life.” Misery glanced at the woman. She was walking towards the tree, wincing as she sliced her palm. Once she was close enough to the tree, she pressed her bleeding hand on the bark.

After a few seconds, Misery’s tattoos glowed as she let out a pained whimper. As the glowing spread through Misery’s tattoos, the leaves of the tree started to brown and fall to the ground. Once all the leaves had fallen, Misery started falling too. Scott sprinted to catch her before she could hit the ground.

“Misery…” Scott shook her, listening for a heartbeat. It was too fast.

Marie and Chris were suddenly beside him, nodding that they should go. The elderly woman was screaming, crying from where she was on the ground. None of them gave her a glance as they walked away.

They followed Marie to a small, falling apart cottage a few paces away. Chris was ready to open the door for Scott to set the witch down inside, but Marie pulled out her cell phone.

“Hey, Kaida, it’s Marie. Where are you right now?” She fished around her pocket while she spoke, finally pulling out a key. “Put it in the closest door, 1… 2… 3…”

She put the key into the lock on the cabin door. A white light appeared around the edges before it creaked opened, revealing what appeared to be Charlotte and Claire’s apartment in Derek’s building. Marie nodded for the two boys to go a head.

“Good job guys. Took you long enough though.” Charlotte said from where she was on the couch. Marie scoffed as she came in with the key in hand, closing the door behind her.

“Go put her in Char’s room. I’m going to call Stiles.” Kaida smiled at Scott. Scott stared at her for a while before Claire tugged on his arm and lead him to the older girl’s room.

Scott stood by the bed for a while looking down at Misery, who only a few months ago he hated and mistrusted. Now he was willing to kill for her.


	35. Knowledge Overload

When Stiles came in, he wrapped his arms around Scott tightly. Scott took a step back from the force but happily hugged his best friend back, taking in his scent. It was comforting to feel Stiles’ presence, especially after months of trekking through literal purgatory.

“What happened? Where’s Misery?” Stiles asked when he finally pulled back, his hands on the werewolf’s arms, like he would disappear if he let go.

“She’s resting. I’m not really sure what happened.” Scott turned to look at the group of Misery’s friends.

Marie put her hands up. “Only I know what I was told, which knowing Misery was nowhere near the whole story. Hell, she probably told me a couple of lies.”

“I don’t know anything beyond my vision of Scott dying.” Charlotte sighed.

“I’m going to go check on Misery. The sooner she wakes up the sooner she can explain what the hell happened.” Chris nodded at them before heading down the hallway.

Stiles turned towards the group. “Uh…”

“I’m Marie. Killing your werewolf wasn’t part of the plan, sorry about that. If your cousin had given me more information, maybe…”

“Misery giving any information would’ve been helpful.” Kaida said with a hum. “That was Chris, one of Misery’s many exes.”

“Yeah, but unlike most, Chris still loves her.” Charlotte gave a judgmental glance at the wall near Kaida’s head.

Stiles turned back to Scott with confusion. Scott grimaced. “Come on, let’s go sit down and you tell me what’s been happening around here.”

A few hours later Misery was walking into the living room, holding the bridge of her nose as she leaned on the archway. “Can someone get me pain meds and alcohol?”

Charlotte and Kaida both stood up, walking past her without a word. Scott and Stiles both looked at her and she put her free hand up to keep them from talking. Then the other girls came back, Misery took the bottle of Tylenol from Kaida, shaking at least seven into her hand and putting them into her mouth. She swallowed them with the help of the glass of what looked like pure vodka, downing the whole glass before handing it back to Charlotte.

“You remember that thing where you’re not immortal anymore?” Chris gave her a judgemental look. Misery just gave him the finger and moved to sit across from Scott and Stiles.

“Are you okay?” Stiles looked at her, leaning forward to take her hand.

“I’ll let you know when my head stops pounding…” Misery was still holding the bridge of her nose. “Fuck…”

“This is what you get for making a deal with a nematon.” Marie crossed her arms.

“Yeah, especially with my track record.”

“So, what exactly did you make a deal with this one for?” Scott frowned as he pulled Stiles back slightly.

“It held knowledge. You give it something you hold dear and it gives you all its knowledge. Later, you go back, trade all the knowledge you’ve gotten in your life and it gives back what it took.” Misery shrugged with a sigh. Stiles looked at her arms, noticing that both of them were now covered in tattoos.

“More magical knowledge, huh?” Stiles stood up, brushing off Scott’s grip. “Misery, why did you?”

“Because if I didn’t, someone else was going to kill me. The tree only loans out its knowledge to one person at a time.”

“There’s always revenge, she’s not above it.” Marie shook her head.

“She’s close to death, it’s what she wanted the knowledge for.” Misery looked up at her cousin. “I-I… the information is useful though. I have the missing information about that prophecy.”

“What? That’s… that’s… what is that?”

“I don’t know yet. I’m still trying to sort out all of it.” She put her head between her hands. “So much information so little time.”

“Dad’s going to kill you.” Stiles smiled at her and held out a hand. “Come on, let’s get you home and cleaned up.”

“Scott still smells like death, he definitely needs a shower.” She smiled at the wolf as she took her cousin’s hand.


	36. Home Sweet Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is literally the shortest thing ever... how... Any who... you'll like it.  
> I'm going to stop before I break the period key with these elipsise

The sheriff stared at them as they explained what had happened to Misery and Scott. When they finished, he stood up and shrugged.

“Why aren’t you mad?” Misery stood up, following him out of the kitchen.

Vanessa sighed, looking at Stiles with a frown. Stiles looked back at her, obviously confused.

“Uncle?” Misery hadn’t gotten an answer. He just waved his hand at her dismissively. “What did _you_ do?”

“Misery, it was…” The elder Stilinski started before Misery’s glare made him look away. “At the time it seemed like it would help you.”

“ _Help_ me?”

“Your mother…”

“What about my mother?”

Stiles and Vanessa were bother standing in the archway between the kitchen and living room now. Stiles grabbed his godmother’s arm when he saw his father’s eyes turn black. Misery took a few steps back, falling onto the coffee table.

“Hello daughter.” The sheriff’s voice was different again, a different pitch than his usual voice. “It’s been a while.”

“Stay away from me.” Misery attempted to stand up from the coffee table, but ended up on the floor between the table and the couch. Cynthia, in her brother’s body, bent down, holding out a hand to her daughter.

“Come on, let me help you. That is what mothers do, isn’t it?”

Misery smacked the hand away. “Get out of him.”

“He let me in.” The devious grin looked odd on his face. “But if you really insist, I could go back to the redhead bitch.”

“Go back to hell.”

The bark of cruel laughter was even stranger than smile. Stiles felt like he was going to be sick. His father’s body leaned down closer to Misery and Stiles couldn’t hear what Cynthia was saying to her.

When the body stood up, the eyes were Stilinski’s again and Stiles could see that his cousin was crying.

The sheriff looked away. “Misery, I’m sorry.”

“Stay away from me.” She finally managed to stand up, walking past him, up the stairs. Vanessa took a few steps to follow her. “You too Vanessa. You could’ve stopped this.”

Stiles walked towards his father. “Dad?”

There sheriff looked at him, frowning. “I’m sorry son.”

“What did Cynthia say to her?”

“I don’t know. I don’t always know what she does, but she sees everything I do.” He took a deep breath.

“I’m going to go check on her.” Stiles headed upstairs, shaking his head. His dad was possessed, by his aunt. And he thought Derek had family drama.

“I don’t even think you’re going to be able to make her feel better.” Cecil was sitting in front of Misery’s closed door. “You might be better off just leaving her alone for a while.”

“What am I supposed to do? Just let her cry in there by herself?”

“It’s all she’s going to let you do.”

“She’s not alone anymore.” Stiles was very forceful about it, putting his hand on the handle. It was locked, but his tattoos glowed gold as he heard the lock click. “Misery.”

She was curled up on her bed and didn’t even bother acknowledging. He sat next to her and ran his hand down her back. “You’re not alone, I’m always going to be here for you. You’re my cousin, my twin, right?”

Misery didn’t say anything, but she didn’t protest either. He smiled and kept gently rubbing her back.

A few hours later, the front door shut. Cecil came in, standing in the doorway. “Both of them left, if you want to stop laying here, angry.”

Misery sat up, staring at her familiar. “You let them do that.”

“What was I supposed to do? If they tried exorcising her from Lydia, she was going to rip Lydia apart.” Cecil looked away. “I didn’t know you’d be this upset about it.”

“You didn’t…” She laughed, hysterically, tears coming back to her eyes.

“Cecil, you of all people should’ve known how she’d feel.” Stiles looked up at the cat.

“Maybe. But she could’ve told me her plan before she left for purgatory with Scott.” Cecil shook his head. “You should call Isaac. I know he wants to see you.”

Misery took a deep breath as her familiar walked away. Stiles pressed a kiss to her temple. “He’s probably at Scott’s. Want to go over there with me?”

“Yeah, I can’t believe I just got home and I’m already itching to leave.”


	37. Reaquaintining

Misery gave her cousin a strange look since he didn’t even bother knocking as he opened the door to the McCall house. Isaac sprung up from the couch and started walking towards them. He looked a little shocked, his eyes glued to Misery.

“Hey Isaac.” She gave him a small smile and a pathetic wave. He took a few more steps towards her and pulled her in for a kiss.

Stiles cleared his throat. “I’m right here.”

“Scott’s upstairs, but he’s sleeping.” Isaac rolled his eyes at him, his arms still wrapped around Misery like she was going to disappear.

“What? He’s been literally dead for almost a year, how could he possibly be tired.” Stiles headed up the stairs, mumbling to himself.

Isaac’s attention was back on Misery the second that Stiles made it upstairs. He was smiling like an idiot at her and she ducked out of his gaze.

“You okay?” He cupped her cheek, trying to make her look at him.

“Not really, so much has been happening lately and I really haven’t had time to process everything.” She pulled out of his arms, turning away from him. “Most of the problems I fix are for other people, I’m not really used to having to face my problems.”

“Sit down. You have a minute to just catch your breath.” Isaac reached for her hand with a smile. She turned back towards him, rolling her eyes at him, but smiling.

“Scott told me that you traded something for a lot of knowledge, or something?” Isaac asked after they had been sitting on the couch in silence for a while.

“Yeah, it was sort of a last minute decision to do it. There’s a lot of good information in my head now, but I have to sort through all of it.” She leaned her head against his shoulder. “It’s hard to find even my own knowledge through it all.”

“What did you trade for it?” When she tensed up, he sighed. “Whatever it is…”

“Isaac, I’d really rather not talk about. At least not right now, okay?” She snuggled up closer to him. “Tell me what I missed in school or something.”

With a sigh, he started talking. During a pause he looked down at her, smiling when he should that she had fallen asleep. Scott and Stiles were walking down the stairs, both of them pausing when they saw Misery and Isaac on the couch.

With a small, silent wave the two left the house, walking towards the Jeep. Stiles looked over at Scott as he started the car. “So, you and Misery must have had a lot of time to talk.”

Scott sighed, letting his head fall back against the headrest. “Maybe you should take a long trip or something with her. I still don’t believe half the things she told me while we were in Purgatory.”

“I was looking over that prophecy while you two were gone, and it sounded like we’re going to at some point.” Stiles finally pulled the Jeep away from the house.

“She could really use some time to rest, we all could.”

“I don’t know how much time we’re going to get to rest. We need to figure out the prophecy, I still need a crap load of training, not to mention the nematon, and whatever decides to just show up.”

“You weren’t training while we were gone?”

“I was, it just… it was really hard to do anything without you. This familiar stuff is pretty serious.”

“I’m really sorry, I didn’t…” Scott sighed, turning to look out the window. It felt like it had been years seen he had seen his hometown, but nothing at all had changed. “How long do you think it’ll take her to sort out all her knew information?”

“I have no idea, but I hope she does before we actually need any of that information.”

“Where are we going anyway?”

“Derek’s. I haven’t really had a decent conversation with him since you died, plus I’m sure he’d want to see you.”

“So you and him really haven’t gotten to talk about… the whole soulmate thing yet?” Scott looked back at his best friend, whose face went bright red.

Stiles wasn’t driving to Derek’s apartment, but out to the preserve. Derek’s care wasn’t the only one out there, Jackson’s and Kira’s, Ethan’s bike. “Derek hasn’t known what to do with me in what was basically a coma and without an alpha, so he’s been training everyone. Last time I was out here, they were shaping up pretty well.”

Everyone in the clearing stopped when they saw the Jeep pull in, all eyes watching as Scott and Stiles hopped out. Kira ran towards them, wrapping her arms around Scott. Jackson, Malia, and Ethan all nodded at each other, heading towards their own transportation.

Derek walked over, gave Scott a small nod before looking at Stiles. “I’m glad you’re back Scott.”

“I’m glad to be back.” Scott had an arm around his girlfriend’s waist, and she was clinging to him like he might disappear at any minute.

“You feeling better now, Stiles?” Derek was smiling at his soulmate, who grinned back at him before closing the gap and kissing him.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Derek rested his forehead against Stiles’ once the kiss was over. Stiles was still grinning like a crazy person.

Scott chuckled. “So, Stiles didn’t tell me if there was any problems while I was gone, any thing go wrong?”

“Nope, nothing at all.” Derek nodded again.

“It was actually kind of weird.” Stiles hummed, turning to look at his best friend.

“It probably means something big is coming.”

“Something big can’t happen, Scott has been alive for like only 24 hours.” Stiles rolled his eyes, finally pulling away from Derek. “Besides, I’m hungry, we should all go grab food.”


	38. Joke Shop and Magic Emporium

It had been almost two weeks and Misery wasn’t talking to the Sheriff again. She also wasn’t talking to Vanessa or Cecil. Stiles was leaning against the side of her car as she rummaged through a box of keys in the trunk of her car.

“You know, I think Dad was actually getting used to you talking to him.” He said after he was tired of the silence. “And why don’t you just magic the right key to you? Or take the box inside?”

“Shut up.”

“Vanessa might cry if you don’t talk to her soon, like actually cry. I don’t know, if she cries, I’ll probably cry too.”

“ _Stiles_.”

“And Cecil, I haven’t seen him in days. Poor thing.”

“I spent fifty years in feudal Japan without saying a single word to him, he’ll survive.” She slammed the trunk shut. “Come on.”

“Fifty years? So, we’re not really the same age, despite being born at the same time, huh?”

“Nope, though I’m not really sure why I only age when I’m in me correct time progression, weird, huh?” Misery hummed slightly before looking at him. “All my accidental time traveling is why I started using keys. Connecting two doors is so much easier than trying to move somewhere, especially if you’ve never been there.”

“Okay, well, I’m sure you learned a lot while accidently time traveling.”

“It’s why I have do many more tattoos than you do, though I see that it did grow a little. A healing spell?”

“Yeah, Kaida decided it was something I had a lot of natural talent for.” Stiles shrugged. “Where does that key connect to?”

“My shop, I need to get somethings. Firstly find an effective way to change records and memories so Scott doesn’t have to repeat a year of high school.” Misery put the key in the key slot of their front door. When she turned it, the door swung open and it wasn’t the house inside. As she walked in, she tapped the door twice, it and her tattoos glowing orange. “So we can get back.”

Stiles nodded, following her inside. He looked around. There were shelves full of things, and he could feel the magic in them. Blades, books, necklaces, vials.

“Welcome to the White Witch’s Magic Emporium. If you go up front, on the other side of the curtain, you’ll be in the Black Cat’s joke shop.”

“Wow, where are we exactly, though? In the world?” Stiles picked up a golden sword with a smile.

“Pittsburg. A lot of witches in Pittsburg surprisingly. It apparently had a huge vampire population back during the coal era, because of all the smog.” Misery looked over at him from looking through a book on a pedestal near the middle of the mess. “And put that down. It used to be used for virgin sacrifices. You get a drop of blood on it, and your soul is going to get promised to the Aztec god of harvest.”

Stiles grimaced and put it back on the shelf quickly. “What’s that book?”

“It’s a catalog of sale. What I’ve acquired and what it cost, including things like favors.” She grimaced. “Fuck, I owe the brothers fuckup a favor… wait, no, they owe _me_ a favor… that was a close one.”

“Hey Misery, you’re back?” A woman only a few years older than them said as she came through the curtain.

“Not really, just looking for something. Do we have any Rewrite or a capital ‘p’ pen?”

“You used the last of the rewrite about a year ago on… Claire’s medical record. And I traded the Pen a few days ago, because it was on th-… Sorry.”

Misery groaned and flipped to the last page. “Why isn’t it in the log?”

“I forgot, sorry… But it was to… my mom, ya know?”

Misery glanced over at Stiles, who was staring at the woman. “Oh, Stiles this is Sita, she’s the half mortal daughter of the Goddess Kali. Sita, this is my cousin.”

“So, you’re a demigod?” Stiles looked her up and down, she didn’t look weird. With a goddess like Kali being her mother, he would have sort of expected her to look different.

“I got my father’s looks, but mother’s powers.” She winked at him, then looked back at Misery. “If it’s really important, I can get it back… or…”

“No, it’s fine, we’ll just have to make some more Rewrite, which will be super fun.” She took a step back from the book, putting her hand over it. Her tattoos glowed neon yellow and then she yawned. “I’m going to be in the lab, you two grab all the stuff highlighted in yellow off the shelves for me?”

“I don’t think she’s ever done any actual work in her lab, she usually just takes a nap or rewatches _Charmed._ ” Sita sighed as she walked over to the book. “We really need to make something close to a dewy decimal system for this place.”

“I should really be less surprised by all of this, but here I am, surprised that she has an entire shop and is friends with a demigod… and…”

“It was a lot different when Rose was still alive, she really helped to humanize her, both to others and to herself. She used to take time to explain things and think them through, now she thinks she has to everything big on her own and the rest of us are her lackys.”

“It’s a shame I didn’t get to meet her… Actually, is the book with time travel spells around here somewhere?”

“That’s a terrible idea.” Sita shrugged and walked over to a shelf. She handed him a really new looking paperback. “I neither endorse nor discourage this.”

Stiles took it with a solemn nod. “Come on, let’s get the rest of this stuff first.”


	39. Time Ritual

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, it's been forever since I updated this, but here's an update. Maybe it has something to do with the like three new WIPs I posted (which you should check out if you're into the fandoms). Why do I do this to myself?

“So, how exactly do I get back to the house, without having to take a plane or drive for…” Stiles asked, flipping through the spell book that Sita had found him. Misery was stirring a caldron, occasionally adding a dash of this or that.

“Knock three times on the door we came in from and think about home. To get back here, do the same to the front door of your house.” She said without looking up at him. “You getting bored? You could practice some magic, there’s a whole room for that here.”

“Uh, Derek sort of texted me and…” Stiles scratched the back of his neck. She looked up and grinned at him. His face went bright red, looking away. “We’ve only been on like one date, we’re not going…”

“You're soulmates.”

“You and Isaac haven’t… have you?”

“No, we haven’t yet. We’re both a little traumatized-…” Stiles could hear Sita laugh somewhere close to the room. It sounded like she was dying. “Shut your demigod mouth and keep your damn celestial-being hearing to yourself!”

Stiles nodded at his cousin slightly, like Sita wasn’t laughing and like Misery had finished her sentence. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Don’t break anything.” She waved at him, going back to work.

When he stepped into the house, Cecil and Vanessa were both in the kitchen. They were both staring at him when he walked into the kitchen.

“So, you’ve seen the shop then?” Cecil rested on his arm. “I’m sure she won’t be back for a while. Once she gets working on something, even I don’t see her for days sometimes.”

“Not to mention that she’s mad at both of you and my dad.” Stiles sighed, wondering if he should let the two in his plan, or if they’d try to talk him out of it. He decided he better not.

They both just grimaced, turning back to their coffees. “He’s going to be okay right? My dad? Aunt Cynthia isn’t going to like…”

“I honestly have no idea. Sometimes demons do irreparable damage to their host. One of Misery’s exes was possessed once. She was left in a catatonic state after Misery exorcised it.” Vanessa gripped her mug so tightly that it broke. “But I don’t know if Cynthia could do that to her own brother.”

That didn’t make Stiles feel any better, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it. He had to act while Misery was busy with whatever it was she was doing.

He left then without a word to the two shapeshifters in his kitchen. Heading to Derek’s building, it wasn’t Derek’s loft that he wanted to go to.

Charlotte was sitting alone in the living room when he walked in. He had knocked without an answer and the door was open, so. She didn’t look up at him, but smiled. “Hey Stiles.”

“Uh, where is…”

“Helping your boyfriend and familiar train your pups.” Charlotte stood up. “What are you doing here?”

“I was hoping I could get your help with something.”

“You want to time travel to get to know your cousin better.” Charlotte was almost looking at him, a smug grin on her face. He opened his mouth to question her, but her grin just grew. “You already have time traveled, so now you need to actually do it so the space-time continuum doesn’t explode, or something.”

Stiles blinked at her for a while. “I did? Did we?”

“No. I found a note in this very apartment from Rose, telling me to help you.” Char tilted her head to the side and hummed. “I’d say I’d let you read it, but unless you know braille…”

“I believe you. So, I actually travel back in time?”

“Apparently. It’s going to take a lot of time and effort to get you to the right place and time, but I’m pretty confident that it’s going to work based on the note.” She hummed before leaving the living room. When she came back out of her room, she didn’t look like she had grabbed anything, but Stiles didn’t feel like questioning the blind girl again.

With the help of the book that Sita had given him and almost no help from Charlotte, Stiles managed to set up the time travel spell in three days. It probably could have been two if he didn’t make a point to visit Misery for a couple hours each day. On the fourth day he was actually going to use it, and hopefully actually get to meet Rose and learn more about Misery.

“Oh, you’re probably going to need Scott pretty close to have enough power for the spell.” Char said as they were driving to the ritual spot.

“That would have been good to know a few days ago, there’s no way Scott’s going to agree to help me travel through time. I’m sure Misery’s told him plenty of horror stories from when she’s done it.” Stiles hit the steering wheel of his Jeep with a groan.

“You’d be surprised. He knows how much you want to know things about your cousin. If she won’t talk to you, this is the next best way.”

Stiles groaned again, turning around to grab Scott from his house.

Scott was understandably and predictably pissed about the idea, but warmed up as Stiles talked, pleaded with him. He still wasn’t happy about it, but he agreed to help, on the condition that he didn’t have to do any time traveling.

Stiles started the ritual. His tattoos and the lines he made were glowing brightly, pulsing many different colors as he spoke words he didn’t fully understand. The glowing spread to Scott’s single tattoo and his eyes. Scott could feel both his and Stiles’ energy being consumed as the mage spoke.

Finally, there was a flash of white light and a swirl of darkness. When Scott looked up from shielding his eyes, Stiles was gone.

Stiles opened his eyes to see darkness. His nostrils flared as he smelled something terrible. Burning wood, and burning flesh. He could see a blaze in the distance through the trees. It was the night of the Hale fire.


	40. Rose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I updated? I didn't think I would, like ever again, but it happened.

Stiles couldn’t stop himself once he realized what was happening. He was running the direction of the smoke, of the fire, of Derek. The worst night of his soulmate’s life, and every instinct he had was telling him to do something, anything. His extensive knowledge of scifi movies told him how bad of an idea it would be to interfere, but he didn’t care. This was Derek, and his family.

He stopped when he could see the house burning, hugging a tree just out of sight of all the people gathered outside of the house. The firefighters looked like they almost had the flames outed, but that they didn’t make very good time. There were two ambulances waiting, but Stiles knew they’d only need the one.

His gaze went to Derek and Laura, both sitting and staring at the house. He ached to go to him, but he’d look like a crazy person if he just ran over there. Especially when he noticed his dad standing near them, looking at the house, looking like he was at a complete loss of what to do.

There was growling behind him and he just groaned. Two sets of yellow eyes and a set of blue were staring at him when he turned around to look at them.

“You…” The one with blue eyes said as she took a step forward. “Talk now, or I’ll rip out your throat.”

“Do all werewolves say that? Or just the ones that have murdered innocents?” Stiles put his hands up, regretting every word as they spilled from his mouth.

“You little…”

Both of the yellow eyed wolves held her back as they stared at Stiles, disbelief in their eyes. “You smell familiar. You’re a witch.”

“Mage.”

The three wolves all shared a look.

“So, who the hell are you guys?”

“We’re with the Lucian Pack, our alpha sent us to stop this…” The one speaking paused, looking at the other too. “We were too late.”

“How did you kno-…” Stiles closed his eyes and took a sharp breath through his nose. “Rose. Is she with you?”

“You know her?”

“I know Misery.”

The blue eyed one growled again as she turned, waving for him to follow. The other two shrugged as they followed after her. He took a few deep breaths before following them.

“So…”

“Don’t talk. Knowing Misery doesn’t really absolve you of any guilt.”

“Wow, does anyone trust her?” Stiles snorted as they continued walking through the forest. “Please tell we don’t have to walk to where you are taking me.”

“We’re not animals. We parked on the road just outside of the preserve.”

The rest of the walk was quiet, and Stiles had walked through the preserve hundreds of times, but it was so different. The air was thick with smoke, not enough to make it hard to breath, but enough that it was the only thing Stiles could smell, that it was a little more difficult to see. There was also the fading glow as the fire behind them turned into embers as the firefighters worked. He couldn’t help but look back every once in a while, wishing there was something he could do to help Derek.

The drive was even more unsettling. Sitting in the backseat of a rental with a strange werewolf, the two in the front seat silently arguing over the radio station. The noise in the car switching at random from fast-paced rap and the soft twang of country. Add to that to the obnoxious sounds coming from the other’s phone, Stiles was more than ready to get out of the car.

Of course, it was the cursed motel that they parked at. He felt his eye twitch as the wolves slammed the doors.

“Rose is in room 12.” The blue-eyed wolf handed him a key. “Be careful, she is armed.”

Nodding, Stiles headed towards the room.

He turned the key in the lock and swung the door open slowly. “Rose?”

There was a girl, about the same age as he was standing at the other end of the room. She was holding a sawed-off and glaring at the door. Looking at her, Stiles could see that her and Claire were related.

Neither said anything as they looked at each other. Stiles’ heart was beating rapidly in his chest, hoping that he wouldn’t die in the past. She had a look on her face that he recognized from seeing it on Lydia’s face when the spirits were talking to her.

Slowly, she lowered the gun when she refocused her gaze. “Stiles.”

“Yeah.” He slowly put his hands down and shut the door behind him. “Thanks for not shooting me.”

“You’re out of your time.”

“I needed to talk to you, and I didn’t have much choice.”

“So, I die.” She looked away as she set the gun down. “Don’t tell me how. If it happens, it has to happen.”

“She misses you, so does Claire.” Stiles walked towards her. “I wish we could’ve met in my time.”

“It was stupid to come now though. You might not be able to get back easily.” Rose rubbed her face. “When Misery has traveled in time, sometimes she’s just had to wait it out until she caught up.”

“Oh. Shit, I didn’t even think about how I was getting back.”

Sighing, she sat down on one of the beds and pulled out her phone. It was still a flip phone. “We might need to get Misery involved in this.”

“No! We can’t… She’ll kill me, or worse.”

“Then we’ll also need to hide who you actually are.” Stiles watched in horror as she put a ringing phone up to her ear. She swore and shut it when he heard Misery’s voice. “Voicemail, as usual.”

“Are you sure there isn’t another way?”

“Not one I can think of on my own. We need someone’s help, even it’s not your cousin’s. And she the most knowledgeable person I know on the subject.”

“I don’t know why I ever thought this could just be easy.” Stiles covered his face. “All this just to learn more about her.”

“Why didn’t you just talk to her?”

Scoffing, he sat next to her with his arms crossed. “That’s easier said than done. She’s so used to hiding things from me that she doesn’t even know how to tell me the truth anymore. It’s fucking insane.”

“I know she’s always wanted to tell you.”

“Yeah, but just because she wanted to, doesn’t mean she’d going to do it.”

“That sounds like Misery.” Rose smiled softly.


End file.
